


Polished Gems

by Necros_Bordello



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Continuation, F/F, F/M, Gemsonas - Freeform, M/M, Mystery, Original Character(s), Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 45,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25565044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Necros_Bordello/pseuds/Necros_Bordello
Summary: It's been three years since Steven Universe left Beach City. Now he's returned for Garnet's fifth anniversary! The gems have grown in his absence, and Little Homeworld is flourishing with new gems. However the party has been interrupted by unforeseen guests. A group of mysterious new gems led by a scientist named Feldspar have reported a particularly dangerous asset to have escaped from their ship. Though the crystal gems agree to assist here, some still have their reservations.  Could they be planning something disastrous? And is there more to this asset than what Feldspar is letting on? All Steven knows is that he's in for his first adventure in years, and the results of it could change life for the crystal gems indefinitely.
Relationships: Bismuth/Pearl (Steven Universe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I did some serious writing, and now that the series is over I wanted to remake the fanfic story that got me into writing Fan-fiction regularly. I hope you enjoy!

The moonlit sky was spattered with stars, painted with clouds, and illuminated with the vibrant colors of fireworks. Accompanying the booms were rhythmic beats of electronic music, joining the lights in the sky were the strobing lights of a dancefloor. The citizens of Beach City and Little Homeworld danced and partied as hard as they could. Gems and humans were mingling, Lapis Lazulis were creating a show with their hydrokinesis, and the crystal gems were all enjoying time with their friends and students. The crystal gems were in especially high spirits, because joining them in celebrating Garnet’s five-year anniversary was Steven Universe.  
It’s been four months since his last visit to Beach City, everyone has been growing up and finding their own paths, but it still felt like the first time he left town all those years ago was yesterday. Little Homeschool has been thriving since he left . All forms of new gems from across the galaxy looking to learn about human culture and about themselves. There were a lot of gems he didn’t recognize, but the familiar faces far outweighed the newbies. As he went through the crowd, he exchanged hellos with familiar faces and greetings with new ones. A large amethyst bumped him to the right and another to the left. A group of them were playfully shoving him towards one of his oldest friends. As he stumbled about, he nearly tripped over his favorite amethyst...Amethyst.  
The little gem jumped up and hugged him, holding onto his head and dangling on him.  
“There’s the little big man! Thought you could escape me?” Amethyst dropped down and posed, “Not when I got the famethyst backing me up!”  
“Heh, yeah. Though I was hoping to meet up with some of the other new gems here.” Steven replied.  
“Ah don’t sweat it. You’re gonna be here for a little while anyway right?”  
“Just a few days. A quick break before I go back house searching.”  
“Awww geeeeeeez! It’s been like forever! Why don’t ya just settle on a place already?”  
The two walked out of the crowd and went over to the refreshment stand. Steven grabbed a cup of punch and Amethyst snatched up a bundle of hor dourves.  
“Well Connie got into her college and we’re not sure where she might need to move for work. I’m just narrowing down places in the United States. Besides I can keep roaming for a year or two. I haven’t even touched Canada yet.”  
“Too cold. Also moose aren’t that cool.”  
“There’s more to Canada than that Amethyst.”  
“Yeah yeah. So that's the reason Connie isn’t here?” Amethyst asked as she rolled her hor dourves into a mushy food ball.  
“Mhm. She’s got a capstone project that needs to be worked on and a couple exams to prepare for.”  
“Couldn’t Lion just beam her in and out?”  
“I don’t think the student faculty would approve of travel by lion.”  
“You sure you don’t wanna just move back here? Everywhere else seems pretty boring.” With that Amethyst shoved the food ball into her mouth.  
“Oh you don’t know that. Gem culture is spreading around the United States as of late. I think with all the gem ships and sightings they kind of need to expand. Beach City can be the embassy but there’s only so much space here. Things’ll be familiar as time goes on. For now, just let things get eased in.”  
Amethyst swallows the food ball and lets out a hearty and satisfied gasp.  
“Yeah but I need my buddy living with me again so I have a fair opponent. Garnet cheats too much when she plays. Dumb future vision.”  
“What about Pearl?” Steven asked, then taking a drink from his cup.  
“She’s too busy either working at Little Homeschool or sucking face.”  
Steven spat out his drink,“Sucking what now?”  
Amethyst looked at him with a surprised expression, “What? You haven’t heard? I figured at least Bismuth would’ve told ya.”  
“Pearl and Bismuth are together?! When was this a thing?!”  
“I dunno like a few months ago. Real slow burn crap ya know?”  
“Since when did you start swearing?”  
“Well you’re like twenty damn years old man! I can take the filter off now.”  
“Oh no you cannot!” A loud, squawking voice interjected.  
The two of them looked over to see Pearl walk to the table. She looked annoyed, glaring at Amethyst.  
“Amethyst how many times have I told you I do not approve of that type of language!? Older or not, swearing is uncouth and makes you look immature.” Pearl lectured.  
Amethyst smiled smugly, “Ass.”  
Pearl grunted and Amethyst rolled back into the crowd. Pearl shrugged and smiled at Steven.  
“She just refuses to grow up. But it’s nice...in small doses.”  
“Well said. So…” Steven swished his drink around, staring at the churning red liquid, “...you and Bismuth huh?”  
Pearl, “Yes, we exist. What about that?”  
“You two are uh...kissing now?”  
Pearl flushed bright blue, “OH!! How did you...Oh that little gossipy weasel!”  
Steven reached out and grabbed Pearl by the shoulder before she could chase after Amethyst. She looked back and her enraged expression faded as she calmed herself down.  
“Why didn’t you tell me about this? This is a nice thing, right?”  
Pearl looked away and crossed her arms, “It’s very nice. I feel great being with someone again and Bismuth gets me more than any other gem. Even Pink Pearl doesn’t compare. But...I don’t know. It’s been such a long time since I’ve decided to be with someone like this.”  
“Since my mom, right?”  
“I was avoiding saying it, but yes. It’s just that I can be myself with her. Not this renegade pearl that everyone has built me up to be, or the...well, I still feel awful about lying to you all about Rose and Pink Diamond and...I just feel anxious around them sometimes because of what I had to do. Or what I convinced myself I had to do. Bismuth doesn’t care about that. I look into her eyes and it feels like she understands everything.” Pearl sighed, “Sometimes I think I should go on a trip myself. By myself or with Bismuth.”  
“Pearl, you know it’s been five years since that reveal. We’re over it. You need to move on from it and not let it burden you.”  
“I know. But I don’t like sweeping it under the rug and thinking it’s nothing. I hurt a lot of gems by doing what I did. Not everyone is as understanding as you guys.”  
“You can’t break yourself by trying to make everyone happy either.”  
Pearl chuckled, “You certainly have every right to say that. Alright, let’s just forget about it and have fun! This is Garnet’s big day after all.”  
From the crowd Bismuth emerged, Amethyst in her right hand and drink in the other.  
“So ya finally learned huh?” Bismuth said to Steven.  
“Yep. I’m happy for the both of you!”  
“Okay good I thought it’d be awkward. Now that it’s open, come on Pearl let’s dance!” Bismuth chucked Amethyst to Steven and Pearl gleefully ran to her girlfriend. The two went dancing into the crowd and Amethyst was left with Steven.  
“You saw Peridot and Lapis? Girls are tearing it up right now.”  
“I tried to get to them but the crowd is a little thick right now. What have they been up to?”  
Amethyst grabbed Steven by the hand to lead him through the crowd and to the gems.  
“Well both of them are getting quite the following with their clubs. Peridot’s plant classes are cool and Lapis is getting a lot of people into doing art. The two even rebuilt the barn!”  
“Really? Is it at the same place?”  
“Yep. Bismuth helped out with rebuilding it. They got a barn and a little house too. Peridot decided it was necessary since she wanted to teach gems about growing different types of veggies and junk. Lapis also likes going out there cause she paints landscapes too.”  
The two finally made it through and found Lapis and Peridot dancing. They were jamming and grooving, but it cut off abruptly when Peridot noticed Steven.  
“Steven!” She called out.  
Lapis noticed and followed Peridot over to him. The two hugged him and he returned their embrace.  
“When did you get here!?” Lapis asked.  
“I got here when everyone was prepping for the party. Where were you guys?” Steven asked.  
“Oh you know, helping out the future creatives of the galaxy. So how long are you staying for?” Peridot asked.  
“Only a couple days. I’m still house hunting.”  
Lapis pouted, “Just pick a place already so I can fly to you.”  
“Lapis that isn’t the point of this. By the way have you gone through all the pencils and paints in that artist kit I gave you?”  
“About a year ago. I still use it to hold my new supplies.”  
“Ahem. Aren’t you curious about my accomplishments?” Peridot interrupted.  
“Oh Amethyst let me know what you two have been up to.”  
Peridot looks to Amethyst.  
“Amethyst! You spoiled the surprise!”  
“She did that with Bismuth and Pearl too.” Steven added.  
“Why you gotta be such a blabbermouth?!” Lapis yelled.  
Amethyst shrugged, “Cause I wanna see the look on Steven’s face.”  
With that she went back into the crowd, leaving the three of them together. Steven turned over to Lapis.  
“So anyway, are you guys living outside of Little Homeworld now?”  
“Oh yeah. Feels good to have a little place outside of Little Homeworld. Especially to get away from…” Lapis trailed off.  
Peridot looked up at Lapis with a look of concern. Steven was confused.  
“The students? I mean they aren’t that rowdy this time around, are they?” Steven said.  
“No it’s not them it’s just...I’ve seen Jasper around the outskirts of Little Homeworld.” Lapis said.  
“Really? She’s actually checking out the classes? That’s...insane actually.” Steven said.  
“No no, she just kind of looks at what’s going on and sort of wanders off into the forest again. She’s kinda like a junkyard dog that comes to check on the neighborhood and goes back to do her own thing.” Peridot said, “Still, it’s a little uncomfortable.”  
“I feel like I’m beyond what happened all those years ago but...when I see her I still feel uneasy.” Lapis said, “It’s not extreme but when I end up seeing her and she sees me, it bothers me. I think it bothers her too. Everytime she sees me she immediately turns and heads back. Times when Peridot spots her she just sort of meanders around the school, checking out the new gems that are there and then she just leaves. But when I see her, she just bolts.” Lapis stated.  
“I see. I guess she’s just making sure things are safe. And it seems like she still has some baggage she refuses to let go of.” Steven said, “I can go talk to her if you want.”  
Lapis shook her head, “No! Steven you’ve done more than enough for me and I don’t want another spiral with you stressing you and...and--”  
“Lapis it’s fine! I’m better now. But I understand where you’re coming from. I’ll just say this. You probably know Jasper a lot better than me, all things considered, but Jasper isn’t a bad...look she’s just stubborn and doesn’t understand that she has the ability to change. She just wants to be her old self and it took an...extreme event for her to even attempt to listen to me.” Steven said.  
“I suppose.” Lapis sighed and Peridot gently held her arm, “I’ll talk to her eventually. Neither of us can really move on until we do. But I need to do it on my terms, not hers.”  
“Why do there need to be terms at all?” Steven said.  
“I...I dunno. Sorry I didn’t mean to vent to you like this.” Lapis said.  
“Don’t worry about it.” Steven said.  
“So...have ya seen Garnet yet?” Peridot said.  
“I was looking for her actually.” Steven said.  
Steven was then suddenly picked up in a bear hug. He looked over her shoulder to see a set of familiar shades, big afro and huge smile.  
“Seems like I found you first!” Garnet declared.  
Steven laughed as Garnet squeezed him. Lapis smiled again and Peridot felt relieved. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was future vision. Either way she appreciated Garnet coming in and giving Lapis something to smile about.  
“There’s my big man! Thought you could hide from me?” Garnet said.  
“Of course not! I just needed to say hello to everyone else. Besides you had to greet and talk with everyone else who came to see you.” Steven said.  
“No one is as important as you.” Garnet let Steven down and took him by the hand. He followed her and they worked their way out of the crowd. Amethyst, Pearl, and Bismuth noticed and followed them. The gems walked over to the edge of the beach. The sound of electronic dance music was now background noise accompanying the calming noise of the waves. The gems sat down at the edge and stared out at the ocean.  
“It’s been so long since we had time to do this. Just sit down, relax, and look out at the waves. It never felt the same without you.” Garnet said.  
“Thanks. I missed this too. I might pick a place by the coast after all.” Steven said, “I missed a lot of this.”  
“Hm? What do you mean?” Pearl asked.  
“Well living normal on the road for a few years, experiencing a normal life, makes me miss the good old days. Just us going on adventures, before the diamonds, before knowing anything about my mom...I guess I’m just feeling nostalgic for it.” Steven explained, “I’m happy things are finally truly peaceful but sometimes I wish we could go on an adventure like old times.  
Amethyst flopped down and stared at the stars, “I get ya man. I miss fighting corrupted gems and all that stuff. But the end goal is what mattered and we’re here. Not much else crazy that can happen.”  
“Amethyst is right. We’re finally at the most normal and peaceful we can be. Not much left for the crystal gems to do except what we’re doing now.” Garnet said.  
Amethyst continued to stare up at the sky and noticed a streak of light quickly passing overhead.  
“Woah!” She uttered.  
“What is it?” Pearl asked.  
“Shooting star! Did none of ya see it?”  
They shook their heads no. Amethyst grinned deviously, knowing she had the wish to herself.  
“Well then I wish fooooor....us to have a new adventure together! Something cool and crazy but with a sweet ending for all of us!” Amethyst declared.  
“Sounds great Amethyst. Wonder when that’ll happen.” Steven pondered.  
Amethyst pointed towards the sky “Hey look another one’s coming. One of you guys can take it. I got my wish.”  
“Well isn’t that...wait what do you mean coming?” Pearl asked as she turned to where Amethyst was pointing.  
A flaming ball was descending from the sky. It crackled and shrieked as it descended from the sky. The gems watched as it flew overhead, just barely missing the top of the lighthouse on the peak of their plateau.  
“What in the world? Was that a meteor?” Bismuth asked.  
“Doubt it. That looked more like a crashing ship pod to me.” Peridot said.  
The others looked over to see Peridot standing next to Amethyst.  
“When’d you get here?” Pearl asked.  
“Well all of you wandered off here and I wanted to hang out. Anyway, that’s definitely a ship pod.” The green gem said.  
“How can ya tell?” Pearl asked as she stood up.  
“When you’re a peridot you gotta have an eye for these things. Also crashing to Earth in one of those things definitely gives you some perspective. Probably landed a bit around the outskirts of the city. You guys wanna go check it out?”  
Steven looked at the others and nodded his head, “Yeah, let’s go check it out.”  
The others agreed and followed Peridot towards the wreckage. Amethyst was lagging behind with a pouty expression.  
“Man I ask for an adventure and I get a quick look at a pod. Should’ve asked for fry bits to be a real thing on frymen’s menu.” Amethyst thought to herself.  
/**/  
The gems made their way to the outskirts of beach city. They flew overhead inside a helicopter Amethyst shapeshifted into. The cool summer air blew across their faces as they soared. They surveyed the dark miles and miles of corn to see a loan source of light. Peridot pointed towards it.  
“There! That’s gotta be it.” Peridot declared.  
“Going in for a landing!” Amethyst shouted.  
The group landed down at the wreckage. Each of the gems got out and Amethsyt reverted to her base form. The impact resulted in a crater as long and deep as a pool, thankfully containing the flaming wreckage from spreading to the corn. Garnet was the first to approach the wreckage, followed by Bismuth, Peridot, then the rest of the group. They noticed the pod had a hole in it. Jagged shards of metal bent unnaturally outward with the tips bending to the side. The inside controls were completely wrecked. Shattered keys, shards of metal and torn up wires everywhere.  
“Harsh landing. Can’t see any gem inside here.” Bismuth said.  
Peridot examined the hole. She carefully examined the irregular shards.  
“Judging by the way the haul is bent outwards, I’d assume the pilot ejected themselves violently out of the ship prior to it crashing. Which would explain why the tips of protrusions are slanted like this. Probably due to the intensity of entering the atmosphere. And seeing how bent they are, the pilot must have ejected themselves relatively close to the Earth’s surface. My guess is they ejected around the thermosphere.” The green gem deduced.  
“So the gem probably crashed somewhere far from here. But why bother leaving the pod like that?” Pearl asked.  
Amethyst got on her tippy toes to look inside the pod, “And why did they have a freakout inside like this?”  
“It doesn’t look like a fight broke out. It’s almost as if the pilot was intentionally tearing the ship apart.” Pearl added.  
“Or themselves.” Garnet stated.  
Pearl looked at Garnet quizzically. It was an odd suggestion, but given the severity of the interior it didn’t seem too out of the question.  
“Alright, I’ll take this back to the barn and analyze it. Amethyst think you can give me a lift?”  
“Sure, but you gotta carry it. That thing looks heavy.” Ame said.  
Pearl crossed her arms and stared judgmentally at her, “Didn’t you just carry all of us?”  
“Yeah but a girl’s got limits. Besides Peri’s got her metal powers it ain’t difficult.”  
Peridot used her power to slowly lift up the pod. She giggled to herself as Steven stared at how her ability has improved overtime. But his stare was interrupted by a phone call. It was from his dad. He hit the answer button and raised it to his ear.  
“Hey dad. The guests missing us?” He answered.  
“Well yeah...also we got new guests coming down in a ship. Doesn’t look like any ship I’ve seen come in before. Might be related to whatever you and the gems went out to find. Stop on by okay?” Greg said.  
“Alright, we’re on our way right now.” Steven said as he hung up the phone.  
“Something going on at the party?” Garnet asked.  
“Yeah, I think the ship that pod came from is landing at it.” Steven answered.  
Amethyst shapeshifted into a helicopter again, “Then let’s go meet em! Gems there probably know a lot more about this than we do.”  
Bismuth hopped in, carrying Peridot with her.  
“Lemme know if the pod is too much for you. I can hold it for ya.” She offered.  
“Thanks...but I got this.” Peridot said.  
The other gems followed suit and they were off into the night sky. The fire of the wreckage finally died out. The only light the gems had was from the stars and moon once more. The pod floated effortlessly next to them as they flew through the night sky. They had no idea what was in store for them, but Steven had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Everytime this has happened, the newcomers to Earth always had the worst intentions. But that couldn’t be possible. It’s been five years since they’ve established peace in the galaxy. There’s no way there was another case of gems that wanted to hurt him or the Earth, right?  
/**/  
There was commotion in the crowd as they looked on at the descending ship. It was massive, as long as one of the Diamond’s arm ships, although much wider. It was in the shape of a ring with multiple cylindrical segments linked together. A central tower was linked to the first and last cylinder in the ring. With the central one it was seven cylinders together linked by two, smaller tubes each. The tubes were stacked above one another, implying each cylinder had an upper and lower level each. It looked more like a mobile fortress than a ship meant for galaxy wide travel. Lapis motioned for the party guests to stay back as the massive ship began its descent. Although it landed smoothly in the water at a slow descent, the weight of the ship still created a large splash. Lapis used her power to stop the water from splashing the guests, placing it back into the body of the ocean.  
Lapis was uneasy by the ship’s presence. The blowback from its jets slowly dying down, sand and water slowly ceased billowing in her direction. The closest cylinder opened up slowly, and then three large slopes jutted out of the open hole. Each one shunted into the sand with great force, kicking up a giant collective dust cloud. She looked up to see a singular gem standing in the opening.  
She saw that the gem was male coded. He had a slender body, pale white skin, snow white hair and eyes as red as blood. He had a sly expression on his face as he parted his perfectly straight, long hair aside. He wore a cut, skin tight black tank top that exposed his flanks, as well as his twin white gemstones embedded there. They were rectangular in shape with the tops meeting together to form a pointed end with the tips reaching where his lower ribs would be. Completing his outfit was a pair of slate colored slacks with the sides cut to expose the inside and outside of his thighs. Completing his outfit were pointed black dress shoes.  
The mystery gem pointed to the left and right staircases. On his command more gems began to pour out of the ship. They were all uniform with spherical gray heads, burly physiques, and outfits similar to a standard quartz soldier. As they exited the ship, they all formed an individual line in front of the set of stairs to create their own formation. They appeared to be guarding the stairwell. When they all exited, there were a total of twenty soldiers that surrounded the ship, only leaving the central staircase exposed.  
The white gem casually walked down the stairs with that sly look on his face. Lapis glared at him and he began to compose himself. His gaze became more stern with each step. When he finally walked onto the beach, he had his arms crossed behind his back, standing in a pose similar to the other soldiers.  
“Who are you and what do you want?! If you’re here to register for Little Homeschool, you’re at the wrong landing site.” Lapis said.  
The gem ignored her as he looked through the crowd.  
“Hey! I’m talking to you!” Lapis yelled.  
“And I’m ignoring you. I’m not here for you Lazuli. I’m here for something more important.” He said in a smooth tone.  
Lapis scoffed in offense to his blatant disregard for her. He then looked dead ahead towards the crowd.  
“We’re here to speak with the crystal gems! There’s been an issue at our facility and we believe that Earth and its inhabitants may suffer the consequences of our blunder!” He called out.  
“Well the others are already looking at your “blunder”. As for crystal gems, I’m part of em.” Lapis sneered.  
The gem cocked his head in confusion, “Really? They let you be a crystal gem?”  
Lapis nodded defiantly.  
“Then why are you here instead of doing your job?”  
“Because it was one pod and I was enjoying the party, which you rudely interrupted by the way.” Lapis said.  
He shrugged.  
“Blame the navigator for picking this spot. I’m only here to act as a mouthpiece til your leader shows up.”  
“You mean Steven?”  
His eyes widened.  
“Steven Universe is here? That’s some interesting news. Thought it was just you gems here with him exploring the planet.”  
Lapis began to lower her guard a little. At the very least they weren’t seeking out Steven for whatever shady reason. The pale gem looked up into the sky, prompting Lapis to do the same. They witnessed the Amecopter descending along with a destroyed pod. She landed next to them and the crystal gems exited, finishing with Amethyst changing back to her regular form.  
“Lapis, what’s going on? Dad told me about the ship, but what happened while we were coming here?” Steven asked.  
“Nothing. It just landed and this creep started talking to me. Said he was looking for you guys. Not you though Steven.” Lapis explained.  
“He was looking for the crystal gems and wasn’t expecting me?” Steven repeated.  
“Yes. Also rude and rude. Rude for calling me a creep and rude for blatantly ignoring a guest right in front of you.”  
“Oh so now it’s rude to ignore someone.” Lapis spat.  
“I’m here on business, you’re here for pleasure. Difference in urgency.” He stated, “Besides you haven’t even bothered asking me my name. How’s that for ill mannered?”  
Steven stepped up to him, “Sorry about that, we’ve had a bad history of guests coming to Earth unannounced. She’s just a little tense. And you might be?”  
“White Topaz.” White Topaz introduced himself.  
“A fusion?” Pearl asked.  
“Yeah, but only in a limited sense. There are no halves that make up me, there’s just me. Unlike your friend there, I’m a bit less complicated than her. But I’d say it's more complex than some rubies piling into one another.” He boasted.  
“I’ll make your face complex weirdo!” A ruby shouted from the crowd.  
He shot a glare at her and the ruby’s friends dragged her away before things took a turn.  
“Right. Anyway, that pod is our property. Mind giving it back?” He asked.  
Peridot dropped it into the sand and let out a gasp. She clearly bit off more than she could chew with holding that pod the entire way.White Topaz made a motion with his right hand and two soldiers ran up to retrieve the ship. As they carried it off, White Topaz turned his attention back to Steven and the crystal gems.  
“An...asset went rogue and escaped our facility. Our commanding researcher has tracked the pod here.”  
“He said that it was a threat to Earth’s inhabitants.” Lapis added.  
“Only on a small scale. Look now that you’re all here, how about I let the boss explain this. She would’ve come out now, but she wanted to speak to you all personally first.” White Topaz explained.  
“Alright, bring her out.” Bismuth demanded.  
“Talk with ya later. Hopefully.” White Topaz said as he turned around.  
As he ascended the stairs, the other gems looked at each other.  
“Dude this guy seems really sketchy.” Amethyst said.  
“I agree. And what sort of asset are they talking about?” Pearl asked.  
“We need to see what they’re up to.” Garnet added.  
Steven pat Pearl and Garnet, “Guys, I know this feels sketchy but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, why would the bad guys go directly to us first? They tracked the pod down and they still went out of their way to talk with us. I don’t think it’s as bad as you guys assume.”  
“And as he said, they weren’t looking for Steven so I doubt there’s any personal grudge here.” Lapis added.  
“Let’s just see what happens.” Peridot said.  
White Topaz entered the ship. The interior was very sleek gray with some black alien engravings on the walls for decoration. To his left and right were corridors leading to the other segments of the ship. In front of him was an open gateway with his commanding researcher staring him down.  
She was shorter than him only by a few inches. Her skin was slate gray, her eyes a white-gray with dark streaks under each eye like they were painted. Each streak slanted slightly and then went straight down, stopping at the top of each cheek. Her hair was pushed backwards, revealing all of her forehead. It was shoulder length and a dirty pink color. She wore a full body suit. The torso was black that faded to blackish-red at the arms and gloves and faded to white as it approached her shoes. Her gem was black with a tint of pink, octagon shaped and located on her left hip.  
“Alright, they’re buttered up for ya.” He said.  
“Good work. Let’s make this as quick and clean as possible.” She said in an authoritarian tone as she passed him by.  
As she exited the ship, he walked further inside down one of the ship’s corridors. He continued onwards until he stopped in a dark room filled with tables and intricate lab equipment. In the shadows there were two gems.  
“Did you make contact with them?” One of them asked.  
“Yeah. Got to them before Feldspar did.” White Topaz said.  
“Are they wary of us?” The other asked.  
“Didn’t make the best first impression, but had to keep face around the boss. She’ll do her best to get them on her side but we gotta make sure they’re on ours. We can’t let her have her way, otherwise all that effort went into nothing.” White Topaz explained.  
“You think they’ll be on the ship soon?” The first gem asked.  
“Probably. We can work our magic then.”  
“Sounds good. This place is going down one way or another.”  
Meanwhile outside, Feldspar has approached the other gems with a smile on her face.  
“Well isn’t this the honor indeed. I wasn’t expecting to see THE Steven Universe here. Though it is appreciated.”  
Steven smiled as she shook her hand. The others were still looking at her suspiciously, except for Peridot who was beaming.  
“You’re...you’re...you’re FELDSPAR!!” Peridot cried out.  
The others looked at her, confused by the reaction.  
“Who that?” Amethyst asked.  
“Only one of the leading scientific minds in all of the galaxy! Her research on gem tempering and her technological advancements helped push Homeworld to it’s glorious status even when gem harvesting was at its most minimal level! She helped continue the gem empire when it was lacking valuable resources!” Peridot gushed.  
“Seems at least someone here is a fan. I admit however that my focus has shifted ever since your time with the diamonds made those fields forbidden. I’ve been looking into fusion and off colors. Yellow Diamond can do so much on her own so I’m looking into ways to assist those with their forms.” Feldspar said.  
“What exactly have you been doing with fusion?” Garnet asked.  
“Streamlining it. Allowing for gems to fuse and become whole in a way previously thought impossible. You’ve seen it with White Topaz, and he’s one of my earlier subjects. Soon I’ll be able to allow gems to fuse permanently, even if their forms are poofed, they will reform as one. Fusion may even be seen as completely normal in other parts of the galaxy.” Feldspar declared.  
Garnet felt uneasy by her statement. Fusion should be out of love, not out of necessity. Images of the forced fusions she’s seen soldered together flashed before her eyes.  
“And did one of your experiments involve forced fusion?” Garnet asked.  
Peridot’s smile turned into a worried frown. She forgot about those horrid experiments and wondered if Feldspar was in any way responsible.  
“Regrettably, some of my protegies took some of my theoretical work into practice and did that without my consent. It shames me that such atrocities were committed based on simple conjecture. It must have been very traumatizing to see. I apologize for such actions being committed on your planet.” Feldspar explained.  
The answer was good enough to drop hostility, but not enough for Garnet to consider the scientist in her good graces. She backed away and let Steven step in.  
“So what asset are you looking for?” Steven asked.  
“Another regrettable mistake from the past. You see I programmed a robot assistant as a way to help sublimate the workload that gems had to do. With the outlawing of kindergartens, we can’t exactly grow new gems to help with various needs. So I decided to dust off a relic from a past experiment to see if it could be useful to us. But it went rogue for some reason. It injured a few of my staff, hijacked an escape pod and rushed off to here. I see you found the pod at least, but did you see any sign of the robot?” She asked.  
“Nope!” Peridot interjected, “But judging by the damage, I theorized that the pilot must have ejected themselves from said pod while they were entering Earth’s atmosphere.”  
“I see. So we need to search further away from the crash site. Thank you for the information. We’ll take it from here.” Feldspar said.  
She was about to leave when Steven spoke up, “Wait! We can help you. You’re obviously new here so you might need some pointers. And it’s our planet so you could say it’s also our problem. We’ll help anyway we can.” He offered.  
Feldspar looked over her shoulder and smiled.  
“Well since you’re so fixated on it, by all means come with me.” She answered, “Your help will make this process much smoother.”  
The gems followed inside the ship. Feld led them to the left corridor. The gems looked at the other gems inside the ship, as well as the interesting choice in decor.  
“I’ll give you a tour of the facility after this little excursion. I just want to give you a quick look at what you will be dealing with, as well as a prediction of where the asset may have gone to.” Feld said.  
“How can you predict that?” Bismuth asked.  
“Considering the damage of the pod, I have a hunch that when it destroyed the pod the tracking signal went out. Using that we might have a lead on where the asset landed when it ejected itself from the pod.”  
“Shouldn’t this thing have a tracking device or something?” Amethyst interjected.  
“It did. But during it’s tantrum it damaged it.” Feld answered.  
They entered the first room to see the gem soldiers doing physical exercises. The others looked at them curious, but Feld was still moving dead ahead.  
“Don’t mind them. They have a routine that they like to adhere to. Little repetition gives them some stability. Rather not interrupt it due to this...inconvenience.” Feld commented.  
The gems moved on and went into the next corridor. After a brief walk, they entered a workspace area. It was filled with monitors, tables, wires and spare mechanical parts. There was a doorway at the other side of the room, a recurring theme with the ring-like structure of the facility. At a desk was a gem working vigorously. She didn’t look like one of the soldiers though, and with the group’s entrance she turned towards them with a smile.  
She had bright blue skin, white blue hair and eyes as blue as a serene lagoon. Her outfit was like a mix between a quartz soldier's uniform and a school girl’s, with the top having wide shoulders, black lining around the shoulders up to a point at her chest with a yellow diamond insignia. Everything below that was a lighter shade and she had two yellow rings on the cuff of her sleeves. Instead of the typical pants, she wore a matching pleated skirt that also had two yellow rings at the bottom of each pleat. She also wore dark blue thigh high socks and dark, shin-high boots that matched her skirt. Her gem was located on the outside of her right thigh, its colors reflecting all the shades of blue of her form.  
“Allow me to introduce my leading assistant researcher. This is Cerussite. Former researcher under Yellow Diamond’s court, now my primary engineer.” Feld said.  
“Hey there! Honor to meet the crystal gems.” She said in a cutesy tone.  
Steven waved at her. Bismuth gave a nice grin and amethyst nudged Peridot.  
“You hear about this chick?” Amethyst asked.  
“Saw her here and there. Back with the old system gems of her type were in the same group as me. They were more focused in engineering whereas gems like me were jack of all trades.” Peridot commented.  
Cerussite beamed at Peridot. Peridot couldn’t tell if she recognized her or not.  
“Is..there something wrong?” She asked.  
“Nope. Just like how cute you peridots look without your limb enhancers!” She said.  
Peridot blushed and got defensive, “I’m not cute! Only friends call me that blueberry!”  
“Even more adorable when you get into a tizzy. You remind me of my partner.” Cerry added.  
“You have a peridot here?” Pearl asked.  
“Nope! Marginally worse.” A brash voice called out.  
The gems looked at the other door of the lab. In the doorway was another gem. She had tall wavy hair. At the base it was a dirty blonde and turned bright green at the top of it. It fringed into two tails at the side, as if her sideburns had grown out. They were also a dirty blonde similar to most of her hair. Her skin was lime green, and her eyes were as green as a well kept lawn. She wore an open shoulder full body black suit with green and yellow wavy patterns strewn about it. In addition she wore a torn top that covered her right shoulder and the top part of her torso. It was bright green at the top and faded to yellow as it went down, much like her hair. She also wore two belts, one tightly around her waist and one that slacked in a manner similar to her top, only slanting in the opposite direction. The slanted belt also had a yellow diamond insignia on it. She also had yellow gloves, and her right arm was completely bandaged up. She wore one yellow boot, and her other leg had none due to the fact that from the knee down was an unrefined gemstone pointing at the end like a peg leg.  
“And here’s Pyromorphite. She’s here at the recommendation of Cerussite. And only because of that. She’s a demolitionist by trade, so not much use to my cause.” Feldspar says.  
“Aw doc, you can’t fix something if you don’t break it first. I’m a value to this team. Or at least her team.” Pyromorphite declared.  
She walked over to Cerussite and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then looked to the crystal gems.  
“So you’re the hippy bozos of earth right?” She said.  
“Hippy?” Bismuth questioned.  
“Ya’ll gave my girl the freedom to make whatever nonsense she wanted, so I’m a bit grateful for that. If I can help you blow something up, lemme know.” Pyromorphite offered.  
“We’re here to retrieve the asset, not destroy it Pyro.” Feld said sternly.  
“Don’t matter if it’s in pieces if we still got pieces to put back together.”  
“Pyro…” Feldspar was beginning to lose her patience.  
Pyro put her hands up in a defensive manner with a carefree expression on her face, “I’m just joking around. Little levity for our guests.”  
Pearl was getting annoyed by Pyromorphite’s attitude. She didn’t feel like looking at her so her eyes wandered, gazing at the different monitors and devices. As she was looking, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Or someone. She turned around to see an outline of someone spying on her from the other room. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to go investigate. If she missed any vital information the others would give her the gist of things. She walked down the corridor and into the next room. She looked around to see what was in there. The soldiers have finished their routine and left to what Pearl presumed to be their regular posts. She looked around for the visage that gained her interest. She continued to look around. The room was rather barren but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.  
“I know you’re here somewhere. Can you please come out?” Pearl called out.  
Behind Pearl, two large insect-like limbs descended from the ceiling. Pearl looked behind to see the legs as they touched the floor. She staggered back at the sight of the bizarre instance. She looked up to see the source of the legs; another gem. She had a a dark purple afro with a tint of violet, bright yellow eyes, small nose and thick lips coated in a deep purple lipstick. She wore a shoulderless top that had a byzantium colored insignia in the shape of a spider. The top covered a bit of her neck but cut off at her midriff. Her shoulders were tinted with all shades of blue, purple and pink freckles. She had twin bands that matched her top wrapped around biceps and forearms. Her fingers were pointed, more like claws than human fingers. Her abdomen was well toned and free of the rainbow freckles. She wore black, short shorts that covered her wide hips. Most of her legs were exposed, save two pink and purple frills that partly covered her thighs and shin length, heeled boots. Pearl didn’t notice her gem and assumed it was on her back. She didn’t look like any gem she had seen before, and the spider-like legs that protruded from her back didn’t help. Fortunately the mysterious gem receded them into her body. A mere trick of shapeshifting.  
“Alright, you found me. So...what do you want?” She asked in a raspy, sultry tone.  
“Well...a name would be nice. My name’s Pearl.” Pearl introduced herself.  
“Black Pearl.” She answered.  
“You’re a pearl!? But you’re so...different from other pearls I met. Not that’s a bad thing, I'm just caught off guard.” Pearl stammered.  
“You could say I’m off-colored.” Black Pearl turned around to show Pearl her gem. It was misshapen, with multiple rings making it look more like a kong dog toy than a standard pearl. But Pearl couldn’t help but blush at the sight of her...differences. She shook off the thoughts as Black Pearl continued.  
“My unique gem shape resulted in this form. That and...experimentation courtesy of another gem scientist. Her methods were awful but yielded the results you see now. I was...liberated by Feldspar, and soon after her experiments were outlawed thanks to your crusade. So…” Black Pearl turned around, “...I at least wanted to thank you for that.”  
“Well anything to make sure the gems of the world are allowed to live as they want to. But why not thank the others? I’m sure they’d love to talk to you too.”  
Black Pearl averted her gaze, “I’d rather not talk about it around Feldspar.”  
“Is there something wrong with that?”  
Black Pearl glared at Pearl. Pearl was a little surprised by the piercing look in her eyes.  
“Listen to me. That “asset” Feldspar is talking about...it’s best left here on Earth. I made sure it went here because you all still inhabit this place.”  
“What? But Feld said--”  
“That it’s dangerous? It is. But it’s only dangerous because she made it that way. Watch yourselves.” With that Black Pearl began to walk away.  
“Wait! What are you talking about? Is she lying about it at all?”  
Black Pearl turned around, “I’ll say this much. It’s something a lot more precious to us than her. You’ll see when you see.” Black Pearl said.  
Black Pearl walked away and Pearl was left confused, wondering what she was talking about. The spider gem continued on her way and was stopped by White Topaz.  
“The hell do you think you’re doing? Talking to her like that, you’ll get Feldspar suspicious and blow this for all of us.” He said.  
“I said what I needed to say. I might not have gotten a better chance than that and Feldspar is doing her best to make sure they stay on her side. A little bit of doubt will go a long way in making sure this goes successfully.” Black Pearl explained.  
“If you say so. At least Jet is doing her job and keeping her distance.” White Topaz said.  
“She doesn’t need to say anything. Just keep your eye on them and we’ll get him back.”  
“Of course. Just keep the mysterious stranger schtick in check, okay? Feldspar isn’t an idiot.”  
“Don’t I know it. It took her this long to finally screw up, and I doubt she will again if this gets resolved quickly. Just make sure you do your part. After this is settled, we’re strangers. I need to get back home.” Black Pearl stated.  
“Yeah yeah, keep saying that. We both know that’s not the full reason you’re doing this.”  
Black Pearl looked away and started walking off. As she walked off, another gem was looking at her from the shadows far behind White Topaz.  
“You there Jet?” White Topaz asked as he turned around.  
He turned to see the shy gem. She had a wavy bob cut that covered her right eye. Her left eye was light blue. She wore an open shoulder gray blouse with a long black satin skirt with matching dress shoes. Her gem was located at the top center of her chest a few inches below her neck. Her pale gray skin complimented her shy demeanor. She had a slim build, save having a little meat to her hips.  
“Are you two up to anything?” She asked in a soft voice.  
“Don’t worry about it. Yet. I’ll let you know when I need your help. Just go about as you usually do.” He said.  
“Oh o-okay.” She said as she walked off.  
As Jet walked off, she noticed another gem nearby. She was addressing some of the soldiers. She had skin like hers but had a much more noble look about her. She wore a long black dress that dragged across the floor with gray gloves. Her straight silver hair flowed down to her breasts. She had a slender figure. Her slate eyes wandered over to Jet.  
“Oh Jet. Skulking as usual?” She asked in a breathy tone.  
“Yes Stibnite. Just wandering...nothing much to do until we locate it.” Jet said.  
“Oh yes. Don’t you worry though, all will be better soon. I assure you.” Stibnite said.  
Jet quickly left her presence and Stibnite was left alone.  
“Curiosity is going to be the death of that little pebble. Hopefully she is as ignorant as the others. The less they know the further our plans can go.” She said to herself.  
Back at the lab, Feldspar had finished the calculations for her robot’s predicted landing spot. A holographic display of North America was shown to the gems with a small dot blinking above where Beach City is. Using the geometry of the ship, predicted crash course and analysis of the pod’s damages, Feldspar has predicted the potential landing zone of the robot.  
“The asset is most likely landed at this latitude and longitude. The real question is which direction it could have gone beforehand.” Feldspar stated, “There’s a lot of potential directions that it could have gone. It has been around a half hour since it landed, so it definitely made some distance from that landing zone, provided it didn’t sustain too much damage from the landing impact. I’m uncertain of where it would decide to wander off to, so I believe the best way of finding it by splitting up. My forces will cover the northern area of where it may have gone. You and your friends may search the southern side of its landing zone. It would be best if you began your search...a kilometer away from the crash zone. If it did decide to run south, you’d more than likely intercept it around there. My soldiers will be deployed to search the outer area of the crash zone and attempt to box the asset in a set area.”  
“Sounds good. That sounds like it’ll be near...the forest.” Steven said.  
Amethyst and Pearl got a little unnerved. The forest closest to Beach City is where Jasper still resided. If it went there, it may end up encountering Jasper, and that could lead to things becoming far more complicated. That is if Jasper simply doesn’t destroy the robot if she finds it first.  
“Is there an issue?” Feldspar asked.  
“No, no there’s none. Alright guys let’s get going! The more we sit around the farther away it goes.”  
With that, the crystal gems exited the ship and were on their way to the specified area. Feldspar heaved a sigh of relief and closed the hologram.  
“Good. Just in and out before anything gets discovered. It can all go back into motion smoothly. This is no dead end stop, just a speed bump.” She muttered to herself, “It’ll all be okay soon.”  
The crystal gems exited the ship and Lapis flew up to them. The crowd has disbanded, the ship’s arrival signifying the end of the party. The only other guest that stuck around was Greg.  
“So what’s going on?” Lapis asked.  
“Murderous android is roaming the countryside. We’re gonna stop it.” Peridot answered, “I’d invite you but you might encounter you-know-who.”  
Lapis shuddered at the thought, “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll just stick around here for a bit and see if they do anything else while you’re gone. At least til I get bored. Then I’ll be back at the barn.”  
“Sounds good. We’ll see you soon. Give ya the deets about it when it’s all over.” Peridot said.  
Steven walked over to his dad. Greg looked a bit worried, but the worry melted when he saw his son’s smile.  
“Everything okay son?” She asked.  
“It’s nothing too crazy. Feels nice having something like the old days. And I’m going to be with all the gems. Everything will be fine.” Steven said.  
“Alright Steven but...just make sure you’re careful alright? You’ve been doing well for a while and I don’t want another--”  
“Dad. I get it. Everything will be fine. Therapy sessions have helped me keep calm and in control. A little robot fight isn’t going to cause all that progress to just vanish.” Steven assured him.  
“Okay stewball. Good luck in your search!” Greg gave Steven a thumbs up.  
With that, Steven went back to the crystal gems. One last quick adventure before going back into retirement. He wanted to spend time with his family again, and now he got to do so doing everything they used to do instead of just catching up. Little did he know just what this adventure would have in store for him. As he walked off with the gems, Feldspar’s ship deployed several spherical drones to scout ahead. As they left and Steven left, Feldspar watched him every step of the way.  
/**/  
It was past midnight now. The cloudless night illuminated the forest. Any and all animals were sleeping or hiding in their burrows, the only sound being the occasional cry of a mocking bird or owl. Walking through the thick brush were the crystal gems, their only sources of light being the moon and Pearl’s gem. They had been searching for a while already and had not been making any progress. Steven was beginning to get tired and Amethyst was bored out of her skull. Garnet decided to make an executive decision, turning to the other gems.  
“Alright this isn’t working out. I think it would be best if we split up and covered more ground.” She declared.  
“Ugggghhh...can’t we just say that there’s nothing here!? This is way less fun than I thought it would be.” Amethyst moaned, “Why can’t your future vision just predict where that tin can will be?”  
“I don’t even know what it looks like in this timeline. Also pretty much every part of this forest looks the same to me. I wanted to stay together for the sake of safety, but at this rate we may just miss it entirely.” Garnet explained.  
Bismuth put her hand on Pearl’s shoulder, “We’ll go west. Two of us should be able to cover enough ground together.”  
“Yeah or you just wanna cover her.” Amethyst mumbled.  
“First off, that innuendo was terrible. Second, there’ll be plenty of time to do that after. So how about you get your head outta the gutter and into some bushes?” Bismuth said.  
“Yeah yeah let’s hurry this up so you can get into some bush.” Amethyst said as she wandered off in the opposite direction.  
“Well at least the follow up was clever. Still gonna slap her when she comes back. Remind me to do that bis?” Pearl asked.  
“You got it hun. Now let’s catch this tin can.” Bismuth said.  
The two of them went off into the forest leaving Steven, Garnet and Peridot alone. Peridot walked where Amethyst went.  
“I’m gonna follow Amethyst. Probably a good idea for us to at least be in pairs, right?” She stated.  
Garnet nodded in approval and the little gem was on her way. Steven looked back to Garnet with a tired expression.  
“Alright now that that’s settled let’s get going. Even if you’re an adult now it’s still way past your bedtime.” Garnet joked.  
Steven laughed as the two went on their way, heading north in order to cover the ground that the other two teams would least likely go to.  
Peridot was rushing to keep up with Amethyst. The purple gem leapt from tree to tree in order to get as good a view as possible. Unfortunately the thick foliage and overall darkness didn’t help her much. Peridot ran underneath where Amethyst leapt to. Amethyst looked down to see Peridot following her and descended downwards.  
“You got stuck with me peri?” She teased.  
“I’m never stuck with ya. I decided to follow you willingly because I felt that Steven would be best with Garnet. He looked dead tired.” Peridot said.  
Amethyst raised her fist and extended it towards Peridot, “Shorty squad?”  
Peridot grinned and bumped her fist into Amethyst’s, “Shorty squad.”  
The two continued onwards, Amethyst staying on the ground so that Peridot could keep up with her.  
“If I knew this would be this obtuse I would’ve taken my trash lid. We could’ve looked together from the sky.” Peridot said.  
“Yeah, but it’s too dark and the trees are too thick to take the easy route. That’s probably why Feldspar made us take the junk area.”  
“I’m certain Feldspar is simply confident in our abilities Amethyst.”  
“Oh yeah totally.” Amethyst leaped over a fallen tree. She had an annoyed look on her face.  
Peridot walked under the tree, just noticing the look on Amethyst’s face. Peridot jogged up so that she was next to Amethyst as they continued their trek through the forest.  
“You alright?”  
“I dunno. I just got a bad feeling about this whole thing.”  
“You worried about the robot?”  
“Not that...okay well that’s a big part of it. But it’s mostly Feldspar. That chick skeeves me out.”  
“But she’s a well known and respected scientist in Homeworld! She’s got the best intentions for gemkind. I’m sure she had the best intentions with this thing and it kinda went off the rails. It’s happened to me before, she probably just had a bit of a flub with its AI.”  
“I just got a bad vibe from her. All that talk and how she presented stuff...felt more like her just blowing smoke up our asses rather than being genuine, ya know?”  
“I really don’t approve of your new vocabulary, but I’m sure it’s nothing too major. You’re just a little paranoid because each time a big ship lands here bad stuff happens. You’re just worried because of past experiences rather than judging her on her own merits. It’ll be more clear when we find this thing.”  
“Yeah yeah that is if-” The sound of a branch breaking caught Amethyst’s attention, “Ya hear that?”  
“Could be it...but I think it would’ve made a louder sound than that.” Peridot added.  
Peridot’s sentence was followed up by the loud crunching and splintering of wood. The sound shook the two of them.  
“Yeah that’s...a bit more obvious.” Peridot added.  
The two ran over to the source of the noise, running into undergrowth to stay undetected. Amethyst was about to exit the bush she went into when she noticed an unnatural bright light. She stayed hidden and observed it from a distance. The sound of splintering wood echoed again. Amethyst noticed another bush and quickly rolled into it. Peridot stumbled out of the prior shrub and quickly rushed after Amethyst. The two peeked out of the bush to see the source of the noise and light. Beating a tree to pieces was a tall metallic being.  
The being was covered from top to bottom in sleek black metal. The fingers were pointed to sharp claws with silver highlights for the tips. Although the arms, front part of the torso, and head were all rather sleek, the back and legs were particularly bulky. Further inspection showed that they were reinforced with more metal. Possibly the power source of the automaton. The head was a smooth straight sheet at the back that curved over the dome of its head into a smooth curved surface where its face would’ve been. On said surface were two glowing green dots where a human’s eyes would typically be. Light also shone from its back and legs, the back being a bluer-shade of green and the legs being a darker shade. There were large, razor blade shaped protrusions on the back of its ankles. It had a vicious look about it, and it’s violent outburst at the tree didn’t help it either.  
The robot had beaten the tree enough that it broke it in two. Before the tree could fall, it kicked the falling half in two. As the two halves fell, it then began to slam its head into the leftover stump, determined to completely eradicate what was left of it. Amethyst and Peridot were unnerved by the bizarre display of violence.  
“Dude...you seriously think that thing was built to be a worker robot? The thing’s psycho!” Amethyst whispered.  
“Well Feldspar did say that its AI went haywire.” Peridot said.  
“You see the claws and blades? What kind of helper needs stuff like that!?”  
“Okay the design is a little intimidating but…” Peridot started her sentence but stopped when she looked back to the robot. It was staring right at them.  
Peridot felt a tinge of fear but shook it off. She exited the bush with Amethyst following her.  
“Alright, we can do this. It’s metal right? I can just do this!” Peridot held her hands out and started to use her telekinetic like powers on the machine.  
At first the machine did nothing, but then it started thrashing its head around when it realized what was happening to it.  
“I’m focusing on its core body parts. Now wrap it up with your whip and we’ll bag this thing!” Peridot shouted.  
Amethyst pulled out her whip from her gemstone and swung it forward. The barbed whip wrapped itself around the robot’s leg multiple times. Amethyst then walked over to it and began to tie the whip in a tight knot. The robot was staring at her as she did her work. Amethyst used the entire length of her whip to bind the legs. She didn’t want to take any risks. She pulled out a second whip and got ready to wrap its arms up. She swung the whip but the robot managed to quickly snap its arm and grab the whip. Amethyst looked back to Peridot and saw that she was straining much harder than she was before.  
“Peri what gives!?”  
“I...I don’t know! It should just be an amalgamation of mechanical parts but...it’s like there’s something else that’s pushing against me! It’s too hard to keep up! Get away from it!” Peridot screamed out.  
The robot flexed out of its bindings, parts of the whip briefly flying away from it before dispersing into light. Peridot fell to her knees, the strain being too much. Maybe she overexerted herself using her power to hold the pod up for so long, or maybe the hydraulics of the robot were stronger than she anticipated. All Peridot could do was list the possible reasons her power waned as the metal aggressor charged towards her. She was about to be cut in two by a swipe of its claws, but as it approached her she felt something wrap around her leg. She was yanked underneath its legs as it swung at her, tripping over the tiny gem and rolling into the bushes. Instead of feeling metal claws rending into her form, she felt Amethyst pick her up. Before Peridot could say anything, Amethyst leapt into the air and lifted Peridot over her head. As she readied to throw her, Amethyst shouted to her.  
“Go get the others!” She ordered.  
“But what about yoOOOOUUUU!?!” Peridot cried out as she was sent hurtling into the distance.  
Amethyst landed on the ground and stared down the robot. It was just her and it now. The thing twitched and jittered unnaturally. Amethyst gripped her whip tightly and got ready to throw down.  
“Alright ya glitched out bitch, it’s just you and me.” Amethyst declared.  
The thing quickly ran up to Amethyst and kicked her. The purple gem was sent flying into a tree. She bounced off it and saw it running towards her. It thrust its claw towards her gem but she used her whip to grab a branch and stop herself from falling into its strike. Its arm caught in the tree, Amethyst curled into a ball and rolled down it’s trunk and into its arm. She bounded off of it, but the robot flinched from the impact. Its knees slightly buckled as Amethyst landed behind it. It freed itself from the tree and stared her down.  
“Didn’t do that much huh? Really wishing it wasn’t just you and me now.” Amethyst had her hand on her stomach. The kick was a lot more than she was expecting to feel.  
Amethyst lashed out with her whip and robot nimbly dodged it. She continued to crack the whip at it, landing every other hit. It seemed to dodge hits to the back and legs but let blows to its front and head to connect for some reason. Maybe it had to do with its faulty AI or Amethyst managed to shake it up more than she anticipated. As she continued swinging, she pulled out a second whip from her gem. She grabbed a piece of the fallen tree from earlier and flung it at the robot. The robot countered by smashing the tree with a headbutt and then rushed at Amethyst. She attempted to leap away from its kick but the robot instead went for a grab. It grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the ground, dragging her along it until it pushed her into the base of a tree. It squeezed tightly as it glared down at the struggling gem. It let out a hateful hiss that sounded like a mix of white noise and an angry growl. Then it let out a few more static fueled sounds in a strained pattern, as if it were attempting to communicate. As Amethyst attempted to pry the claw off her face, it raised its other hand upwards. It’s fingers were all clasped together to make a singular thick and sharp point, intent on striking downwards towards Amethyst. As it readied its strike, it’s attention wavered away from Amethyst. It looked to the side and in the next second was thrown off of Amethyst. The purple gem felt its grip loosen enough to let her face go, even though it still managed to cut her cheeks as it left. She sat up and saw a giant boot in front of her. A familiar one at that. She traced the boot of its leg, to the owner’s torso, and finally to the face of her savior: Jasper.  
“Sis!? What are you doing here!?” Amethyst scrambled to her feet, “I thought you lived near the mountain.”  
“I do, runt. But this whole forest is my territory.” Jasper looked away from Amethyst and back to the robot, which was scrambling to its feet, “And that rust bucket is invading my space. You wanna make yourself useful and explain what that thing is?”  
“It’s a thing some creepo scientist Feldspar made. Thing went crazy and just so happened to land here, so now it’s our problem.” Amethyst explained.  
“Feldspar? That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. So we gotta trash that thing?” Jasper asked.  
“No she said that we can’t destroy it. Steven also promised to bring it back in one piece.”  
Jasper looked back to Amethyst with wide eyes, “My diamond is here!? Why didn’t you tell me!?!”  
“Oh now you wanna hear from me. Well if you help me take this thing in you can catch up with him. He was wondering what’s been up with you.”  
Jasper looked back at the robot, it was hissing that vile noise and clenching its fists tightly as it thrashed about in place.  
“Fine. It’s just gotta be intact enough to be presentable right? I’ll just break its legs and arms. You stay out of my way!” Jasper then charged forward, forming her helmet as she did so.  
Jasper punched at the thing and it responded by deflecting her fist with a well timed knee strike. The robot slashed at her stomach and Jasper reacted by punching with her other hand. Her left hook collided with the side of its head and it was sent rolling into another tree. She patted her stomach and felt torn fabric. She looked down to the slash marks glowing with white light. Her form got damaged from a simple swipe. The thing had more power than she anticipated. She rushed back to it and the robot leapt backwards to avoid her first strike. As she punched and kicked at it, the robot nimbly dodged each strike. She attempted to grab it but that attempt was met by a choke guard. The robot threw both fists outwards and they slammed into Jasper’s elbow joints. The pain was intense and was followed up by a lightning fast leaping knee strike to her chin. Jasper was launched into the air. She shook off the blows and began to roll into a ball, getting ready to launch herself like a missile at it. As she stopped herself, she was face to face with the thing. For a second she saw her reflection in its face before said face smashed into hers. Her charge thwarted, the robot then wrapped its legs around her neck and began to throw punch after punch into her head. Even if the blows were dampened by her helmet, they came so fast and hard it was difficult for the quartz soldier to get her bearings as she fell down with it. As she fell to the ground with it assaulting her, it was knocked off of her by a ball of hair. As the mechanical assailant flew forward, Amethyst uncurled herself and stood on Jasper’s shoulders. She lashed her whip at it and grabbed it with both her whips. She cracked them forward and sent two waves of energy to it. The explosion lit up the dark forest as the two gems landed on the ground.  
“What do you think you’re doing!? This is my fight!” Jasper shouted as she tossed Amethyst to the ground.  
“Excuse you!? I started it, it’s my fight! And you were getting pummeled by it you dumbass!”  
“Runt! You got a lot of nerve!” Jasper shouted.  
As the dust cleared, their bickering was interrupted by Jasper getting kicked in the head by a leaping strike. She slid across the forest floor and Amethyst quickly rolled into a ball and chased her down to avoid getting attacked.  
“Look let’s just call a truce or whatever so we can kick this thing’s ass, okay? The sooner it's done the sooner you can hang out with Steven or whatever.” Amethyst said.  
“Tch...fine.” Jasper said as she got up, “Clearly your skills have increased a tiny bit. You won’t be a hindrance to me.”  
Amethyst was surprised and a little touched to get even a semblance of a compliment from her sister, but she quickly brushed it off to focus on the fight. The robot was already at Jasper, attacking her relentlessly with claw strikes and kicks. Jasper was on the defensive, blocking each blow. Her arms were getting cut up by the claw strikes but they were thick enough to handle them. She continued to be on the defensive while Amethyst moved behind the robot.  
Amethyst looked to see that its arms were a little bit damaged by her whip strike. Its armor was tough, but not unbreakable. It just needed something a bit more destructive to really make it break, and she had the right muscle to really damage it. She got ready to swing her whips, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.  
As Jasper’s guard got blown open, the robot made its move. Another leaping knee came hurtling towards Jasper’s chin, but Jasper predicted the strike and dodged ahead of time to avoid its insane speed. She expected it to be flying overhead and primed for a real strike, but she instead felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She looked over to see the heel of her enemy digging inside of her. As the machine kicked off the ground, it must have quickly retracted and swung its leg backwards to catch onto Jasper. Using the weight and size of its much larger enemy, it was able to get back into a similar mount to what happened while they were falling together. It crossed it’s legs around Jasper’s neck, the blade ripping out of her shoulder in a violent manner. Acute pain emanated from her shoulder, but Jasper merely grit her teeth and growled. She looked up at the thing as it got ready to wail on her head again. Before it could, a whip wrapped around its wrist. It looked at it in confusion and then another whip grabbed its other arm. Amethyst was pulling as hard as she could back so it couldn’t attack.  
Jasper’s angry scowl turned into a mad grin. She grabbed it’s legs and forced them apart. As it fell back, she arched her back and swung her head as far as it could go backwards. As the robot fell, she launched her head forward in a quick and powerful snap. The blunt end of her helmet collided with the robot’s face and slammed it into the forest floor. A loud boom echoed as dirt flew from the impact of her infamous headbutt. Amethyst couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to the poor machine. Jasper’s headbutt was something to be feared. The huge eruption of dirt and the fact Amethyst could feel it through the ground from so far away only did it a tad of justice.  
Jasper stood up straight and looked at the result of her attack. The robot was lifeless. Its head and upper torso were pancaked into the dirt. It’s face was covered in cracks, the biggest of which were where her helmet collided with it. Sparks and light leaked from a few of the cracks. One of its eyes popped out of its head, showing circuits and needle-like protrusions. Jasper was about to stomp down on the head and finish it off when she felt someone holding up her leg. She looked down to see Amethyst.  
“It’s done Jasper! Cool your jets.”  
Jasper scowled and moved her foot off of Amethyst.  
“We need to make sure it’s broken enough so it doesn’t cause anymore trouble.” Jasper argued.  
The two stepped aside from the robot.  
“We still need it in a good enough condition for Feldspar sis! You already rocked it pretty hard, you don’t need to double tap or take its head off!” Amethyst rebutted.  
“You’re such a softie. You don’t stop hitting until you’re one hundred percent certain your foe is done for!”  
Amethyst scowled at her, “Is that what you taught Steven? You remember what it got you?”  
Jasper was taken aback by what Amethyst said. She had always given her attitude, but that was intense. Jasper gnashed her teeth at Amethyst.  
“Take. That. Back. Runt.” She growled.  
“You know what you did to him, and what happened because of it.” Amethyst said.  
“Shut up!” Jasper yelled.  
Before the argument could get any uglier, the android rolled itself backwards and hopped back onto its feet. The two of them looked at it and got ready to fight. But instead of facing them like it did earlier, it was picking at the cracks in its face. Hunched over and scratching at itself, it began to let out that hissing noise again. But amongst the hisses...they heard it speaking words.  
“Feel...I...feel...feel...feel this!” It declared.  
It’s voice was a jumbled mess of different sounds. The hissing noise was the primary part of its voice, as if it were attempting to mask the rest of the sounds it was making. Following the hiss was a baritone beep, giving its words an even more robotic tone. But below all that was a human like voice. It sounded like a young adult male’s voice, with a slight hint of gruffness to it. Each sentence ended like a radio being hung up. The robot’s two witnesses were flabbergasted by the sound of its voice.  
“It talks!?” Jasper shouted.  
“Must remove bindings...must remove bindings.” It repeated to itself.  
“It seems like it just talks to itself but...I don’t think this thing is a thing anymore.” Amethyst declared.  
“Will be free...cannot be controlled.”  
It then let out a loud screech as it dug its claws into its face. Amethyst and Jasper flinched at the ear piercing cry. It looked at them briefly and then rushed into the forest at blinding speed.  
“Hey! Get back here!” Jasper began to chase after the robot.  
Amethyst stayed behind, shook by what she saw. She didn’t know if Jasper saw it or not, but in that moment she noticed something as she looked at its face. It managed to gouge out one of its green glowing eyes. In the hole it once was was a much more human looking eye. An eye that was bulging out as if whoever was inside the thing was in extreme pain. Amethyst was having a hard time believing what she saw but...she couldn’t think of any other explanation for it. Her daze was interrupted by the sound of her friend’s voices. She looked over her shoulder to see everyone rush to her. Pearl was the first to get to her, she already got to her knees and was inspecting the damage Amethyst had sustained.  
“Amethyst! Are you okay? What happened? Where is the robot!?” Pearl stammered.  
“Did you chase it off? Where did it go?” Bismuth asked.  
“Guys give her some space. She clearly got freaked out by it.” Steven said.  
Amethyst shook her head and tried to compose herself.  
“Guys...I think I was right about Feldspar being a nut.” Amethyst stammered.  
“What are you on about? Walk us through this Amethyst.” Peridot asked.  
“Well...after I threw you, I fought it and it was pretty much kicking my ass. I didn’t really have a chance against it. Then when it was about to skewer me, Jasper came in and helped me.” Amethyst explained.  
“Jasper!?” Pearl said.  
“That’s nuts. Did she break it?” Steven asked.  
“No. We worked together to fight and she managed to give it a nasty headbutt.”  
Garnet looked over to Bismuth, “That must have been that horrible shriek we heard.”  
“No! No it wasn’t!” Amethyst shouted, “Cause it got up and then...then it was talking to itself like a weirdo! Said something about removing bindings, then it screamed out while digging into its face and it looked at us and I saw...I saw a freaking eyeball in it’s broken face!”  
The others looked at Amethyst, astonished by the revelation. Peridot put her hand on Amethyst’s shoulder to attempt to calm her down.  
“What...what are you saying Amethyst?” Pearl asked.  
“Guys...I think that robot is actually a gem.” Amethyst said.


	2. Broken Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the secret of the android revealed, the crystal gems seek Feldspar for answers. Meanwhile, Jasper is on her way after the android herself to capture it herself.

Polished Gems Chapter 2  
Broken Pieces

It was nearing 2:00 A.M. in the dark moonlit forest. Any and all ambient noises from the nocturnal animals were absent. At a particular patch in the forest the remnants of a brutal battle were strewn about. Splintered trees, broken branches, and giant clumps of earth scattered across the once pristine forest floor were all that remained of the violent conflict that happened only mere moments ago. In this former battleground were the crystal gems, all of them shaken by a disturbing revelation. The thing they were pursuing, the violent android that could pose a threat to humanity and gems alike, mayhaps be a gem. Amethyst was the one to suggest this morbid theory, and everyone else was deeply disturbed by her suggestion. She sat on the ground, exhausted and still in pain from her fight, as the others looked down at her. They struggled to find the words for the idea, but Steven was able to respond first.  
“What...what are you saying?” Steven asked.  
Amethyst got onto her feet, “Exactly what I said. I saw it in its eye. Or what was behind its weird mechanical eye. It looked like a gem man. And it freaking talked!”  
“Did it speak with you or was it just saying commands?” Pearl asked.  
Amethyst took a few steps back then her form was encompassed in light. Her form began to shift with the light as if invisible hands were quickly molding her form like an artist with clay. The light dispersed and she turned into an exact replica of the damaged android. She then hunched over and began to reenact the scene she saw.  
“Must remove bindings...must remove bindings...?” Amethyst did a poor interpretation of the robot’s voice.  
She quickly changed back to her normal form and started talking like normal, “That’s what it said before it screamed and ran like hell away from us.”  
“Us? Oh right. Jasper. Where is she?” Pearl asked.  
“Chased after it on her own.” Amethyst said, “I don’t think she noticed the eye. Or cared about how he talked. She at least knows not to break him entirely.”  
Garnet looked over to the destroyed foliage, trying to piece together the scene. She saw something vaguely familiar with her future vision. Now she needed to connect the pieces as subtly as possible in order to connect them with other possible visions.  
“You call the thing a he?” Bismuth asked.  
“Yeah. It was hard to hear it under all those robot noises and junk, but I heard a dude’s voice.” Amethyst explained.  
Bismuth scratched her head at the concept. They were appearing more often than they used to, but male coded gems were a bit of a rarity. She was even a bit surprised by White Topaz, but the information felt irrelevant.  
“Very strange. I think we need to go back and have a talk with Feldspar.” Pearl suggested.  
“But what about the androi...that gem?” Peridot brought up, “Jasper might clobber it if we don’t go after it ourselves.”  
Garnet looked back to the others, “I’ll go after them. I have the best chance at tracking them down. You all go back and figure out what Feldspar is really hiding.”  
“You sure you’ll be okay?” Bismuth asked.  
“Yes. Besides if anything does go south, I’d rather you be with them. I can handle Jasper if she decides to act...like she normally does.” Garnet said.  
The others started to leave.  
“Be safe Garnet.” Pearl said.  
“Good luck! We’ll figure stuff out!” Peridot said.  
“You can count on us.” Bismuth added.  
The three of them started to move. Amethyst and Steven stayed behind for a brief moment.  
“Are you sure you don’t need me to come with? If this is a gem, what if it’s hurt? I could heal it.” Steven said.  
“If it’s hurt, I’ll bring it to you.” Garnet promised, “Now go on. You might be able to catch a nap if Bismuth carries you.”  
“Heh, alright fine. But you be careful.” Steven said as he began to walk away.  
Garnet looked down at Amethyst’s determined stare.  
“I know what I saw.” Amethyst said.  
“And I have every right to believe you. But there might be a reason for this that isn’t malicious. We’ll take care of it. And don’t worry about Jasper either. It’ll be fine.” Garnet assured her.  
Amethyst turned around, looked over her shoulder with a knowing stare, and then ran away to catch up with the others. Garnet watched her the whole way as she disappeared into the bushes. She turned around and began running through the trail of destruction left by Jasper and the android. She had a lot of ground to cover and she had to hurry. Everything that Amethyst said has shaken up her visions of the future. If it were a simple android, then this would’ve been one of the easiest quests to map out. Now, everything from Amethyst’s report to the positions of twigs and wood splinters on the forest floor, there’s no telling what will happen within the next few hours. 

/**/

The sun was beginning to rise over the desert landscape. Spherical drones were surveying the landscape. They were piloted by bland soldiers with stern, emotionless expressions. Flying high above them inside her ring shaped fortress, Feldspar was looking at multiple display screens that circled around her in her personal viewing chambers. She was looking at the viewpoints of each of the pods. She knew one of her soldiers would report any sign of the asset to her but being able to view them herself was assuring. She wouldn’t let the mistakes of grunts ruin this for her. She was so close to her goals, to fixing her mistakes, and getting back to what was truly important. Her end goal wouldn’t be compromised by this fault. Any resource will be used and any person exploited to get what was most important to her.  
As she scanned her screens, she noticed something abnormal. She expanded it, pushing the other screens out of the way as she did. It wasn’t the asset, but it was the crystal gems. Bismuth was carrying Steven. He looked like he just woke up. The others had a very odd look in their eyes. Did they learn the truth? Why else would they be here? She knew she had a lot to explain, and delaying the inevitable would only further indict her.  
She tapped a few signs on the screen to signal for the ship to grab them. The pilot responded in kind, descending to the gems and allowing them to enter inside. Feldspar moved away from her display and made her way to go and greet the other gems. Twin doors automatically opened and she entered her own personal elevator. As she descended, she rehearsed what she was going to say to the gems in her head. For any possible information they may have gained, she played out the perfect response to help appeal to their empathetic side. Any way the conversation could branch off, she thought of several different ways she could explain herself. The lift stopped, the doors opened, and Feldspar exited. She decided to stop at the opposite end of her facility. Walking through her personal world would help her think, as well as gain some extra security knowing what was going on with her crew. She walked to the right and began her stroll through the ship. She started off by going through her personal workshop.  
As she walked off, she passed by Cerussite and Pyromorphite. They were fiddling with some damaged technology. It wasn’t of her concern what they were making, but the way they froze up as she walked by was noted by her. As she continued through the different rooms of the facility she noticed Jet attempting to keep a low profile. She was skulking as usual. Nothing to worry about. She knew with her situation she wouldn’t attempt anything too daring. In the next room she saw Black Pearl and White Topaz talking. She stopped walking and looked over at them. They looked at her with disdain, which she returned in kind.  
“Are you two hoping to talk with the crystal gems before me?” Feldspar asked.  
“This is your business, not ours. We’re just here to work.” White Topaz stated, “We know our place.”  
“Yes you do. And that’s why I’m suspicious. You two always were ungrateful for what I’ve done for you. Now that an opportunity has presented itself to you, you’re just dying to get as much as you can out of this, right?” Feldspar said.  
Black Pearl glared at her, “We want the same thing you want Feldspar.”  
“Just because our views align on one thing doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten there’s a thousand other reasons we’ll never see eye to eye. And I still have my suspicions on who let my asset escape like this. Maybe one of you wants to ruin me for your own personal gain?”  
“What good would that do us?” Black Pearl asked.  
“What good will come from having conversations behind my back?”  
“I’m allowed to talk with White Topaz whenever I please.”  
“And the crystal gems? I know you talked with their Pearl.”  
Black Pearl clammed up. She could only glare at her. She thought she had the perfect opportunity to talk with her, but nothing seemed to get past Feldspar.  
“I record everything that goes on in this facility. Don’t think you can get past me with your simple tricks.”  
Black Pearl glared daggers at Feldspar.  
“Maybe you were telling her about your little congregation of refuges? You hope the renegade Pearl could help bring your rescues into the modern era?” Feldspar said, “When you know they should be here with me?”  
“They don’t belong to anyone and you know it. I’m not letting Homeworld get their hands on them. I know they haven’t changed. They won’t be forced out of hiding by you or anyone else.” Black Pearl stated.  
Feldspar looked away, “Uttering the same self righteous nonsense. Maybe keeping you cooped up in this ship has been bad for you? You need to see the outside world.”  
“Tch.” Black Pearl turned away from her, signalling she didn’t want to continue the conversation. All the same to Feldspar. Nothing she hadn’t heard before and she needed to address the crystal gems. She exited the room and White Topaz turned to Black Pearl.  
“I told you she would catch on.” White Topaz said.  
“We can’t afford to be methodical with this anymore. If we let this opportunity go, we’ll never get what we want.” Black Pearl said.  
“Fine. But your next move involves me. I did some digging. She has a blindspot here. Getting someone there so we can talk...that’s a different story.” White Topaz said.  
Black Pearl reached to her gem and placed her finger tips to it. She gingerly pulled backwards and pulled several thin wires from her gem.  
“I’m sure I can make that happen for you.” Black Pearl declared.  
Back with Feldspar, she finished running every scenario in her head as she approached the entrance chamber. She tapped her foot as she awaited them. It probably wasn’t as bad as she assumed, but the tension was bothering her. She wouldn’t show it to them though. Just letting the jitters out now before they could be seen by anyone else. As the doors to her facility opened, revealing the crystal gems, her jitters faded and she feigned a smile.  
“If you wanted we could have rendezvoused back at the city. There was no need for you to go all this way after me.” Feldspar said.  
“Cut the crap Feld. We got business.” Amethyst demanded.  
Feldspar’s smile faded into a stern frown.  
“Does this have to do with my asset?” Feldspar asked.  
“Yeah, more like gemset!” Amethyst said.  
The others stared at her for a couple of seconds, bewildered by the attempt at a burn Amethyst threw at Feldspar.  
“Really?” Bismuth said.  
“I’m sleepy, give me a break.” Amethyst said.  
“Your horrid sense of humor aside, I understand you now know the truth. Come with me.” Feldspar said as she walked away.  
She waved the others on to follow her. The others looked back at each other and then back to her. Steven and the others were ready to go at it in case she attempted any form of trick.  
They continued to walk in silence until Feldspar stopped at a door a few segments of the ship away from the entrance. She typed in a code on a panel next to said door and it slowly opened. She walked inside first and the gems followed behind her. Inside, to the gems shock and astonishment, were dozens of mechanical parts that represented various limbs. Lenses of various sizes meant for different sizes of gem eyes, wires strewn about in a messy order, and even several giant complete suits stood by the walls like suits of medieval armor. One in particular was unnerving to Pearl.  
It was titanic, easily dwarfing even Jasper in stature. Arms as thick as oil drums and legs as thick as oak trees covered in plates of dense silver armor. The shoulders were astoundingly broad, the armor was meant for a gem of insane physique uncommon among even the most hard of quartz soldiers. The face was particularly unnerving. It was featureless save a single upside down, trapezoid shaped gold window. She looked at it like it was looking back at her. She turned her attention to Feldspar.  
“What is all this!?” She demanded.  
“Mistakes.” Feldspar said.  
She walked to a desk and placed her hands down gently. Her head hung low, her tone was as somber as her expression.  
“What do you mean mistakes?” Steven asked.  
“Back in the days before your revolution...maybe around one hundred something of your Earth cycles, I went rogue. I decided to not listen to any of the higher up gems when it came to the science of fusion. The diamonds wanted war machines but I simply wanted gems to be what they wanted to be. I developed cybernetic enhancements to meet that goal. The point was to pressurize gems and form them so they could become one with one another. We may be beings of light but that doesn’t mean us combining is that simplistic. Our wavelengths have to be perfectly in sync with one another. This can be accomplished via emotional feedback loops, or artificially as I have displayed here...and as you’ve seen in the field.”  
Feldspar raised her head up and turned to the gems. They were unnerved by the idea, but were uncertain of the intentions behind her decisions.  
“I had to show the diamonds that I was still working to make them weapons to kill...well you can probably guess who.” She said looking at Steven, “But my intentions were always in the gems best interests and not for something so...barbaric. My experiments were a failure. Though the gems were able to be fused together properly, it would have adverse side effects. Some gems came out off color due to the intense pressure of the wavelength manipulation, others would crack or even shatter under the experiments. But the only one to survive was him...at a horrific cost. His mind. At first he was able to handle the intensity, and even enjoyed his life as a permafusion. But one day his mind began to slip. I attempted to remove the gear and he went insane. I tried to get him to calm down but he attacked me. He almost ended my life. If it weren’t for my subordinates I wouldn’t be here right now. That all happened five years ago. Ever since then I’ve been attempting to fix him. However one day while I was working on developing a way to safely remove his armor, he broke free of his restraints and...well...you know the rest.”  
The gems were disheartened by her tale. She may have done something terrible, but her intentions were pure in nature. Pearl was thankful Garnet wasn’t here to hear this. It would’ve broken her heart. Steven walked up to Feldspar and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her an empathetic stare.  
“It’s okay. We can fix this. Did you keep the...you know.”  
“The shards of the other gems? No I...I couldn’t bear to hold onto them. I gave them to Yellow Diamond and she used them for the cluster. It was a relief to know that you put it at ease Steven. I’m thankful for that.”  
“Of course. But what about the gem?” Steven asked.  
“Maybe you could start by telling us his name?” Amethyst asked.  
Feldspar sighed, “Tourmaline. He was a...his name is Tourmaline.”  
“Alright, that’s good. And let’s say hypothetically...his armor got damaged?”  
Feldspar’s eyes widened. It looked like every nerve in her face tightened at the same time. She stumbled back in terror.  
“No. Nonononono! If it’s damaged or destroyed...the damage done to him could be irreversible! He wouldn’t be able to live a normal life! I-I-I I don’t even know if Yellow Diamond could fix his form given the circumstances! Y-y-you all need to find him immediately before it’s too late!” Feldspar begged.  
Steven put his hands up in an assuring manner in an attempt to soothe Feldspar’s nerves, “Feldspar we understand! We’ll go get him before anything happens to him. And we’ll help you fix this too.”  
Feldspar bowed her head, got to her knees and bowed down. It was a pathetic display but the gems were moved by her humility.  
“Thank you…” She cried, “Thank you for showing pity on me, my diamond!”  
Steven helped her get back to her feet, “Please...you don’t need to do all this.”  
She sniffled and then quickly snapped up and turned around. She opened a compartment of the work table she was facing, grabbed a set of small devices and handed each one to the crystal gems. They each were about the size of an earbud.  
“Take these please! They’re my experimental communicators. They aren’t capable of hologram communications, but with them you all will be able to contact the ship directly and I’ll be able to track your positions with them. Contact me as soon as you find Tourmaline.”  
“If you had these, why didn’t you give them to us in the first place?” Peridot asked.  
“They’ve rarely been tested. I didn’t want to give you faulty technology. As you’ve seen firsthand, any distractions with him could lead to a swift death. Do not engage with him further. I’ll handle this personally if you find him.”  
“Alright. We’ll help you make this right!” Steven said as he rushed out the door.  
The other gems followed suit, leaving Feldspar alone. She waved them goodbye with a happy expression on her face. As the sound of their footsteps became more quiet, her expression turned more grim. She crossed her arms and sighed, disgusted with her behavior. It was completely undignified of her, but she needed to do it to stop them from asking any further questions.  
“Well then...I guess things have been accelerated significantly.” She said to herself.  
She heard a loud thud. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the suit moving towards her.  
“No no. You do not need to be moved into the fray just yet. I already deployed my original plan. I was hoping to get them all here...but the fusion is absent. I assume she went after Tourmaline on her own. If that’s the case, our outside influence could handle her. If the two of them fight then she could grab them both.” Feldspar said.  
She pulled out her own communicator from her gemstone and began to type in receiver information. It took a few seconds, but she got an answer.  
“Hi! Been a while. Need a hand with your toys?” A perky woman’s voice answered.  
“I need some clean up done on Earth.” Feldspar said.  
“Little gung ho now aren’t ya? Thought that was still on the boiler plate.”  
“Circumstances demand acceleration. I will send you the coordinates you’ll need to go to as soon as I acquire them. For now, come to Earth and avoid going anywhere near Beach City. Understand?”  
“Alright. Been bored out of my skull for a while now. Hope this doesn’t disappoint.” The transmission ended.  
Feldspar hung up and put her communicator back into her gem with a flash of light. She stepped out and the suit got back to standing by the wall, awaiting the order from it’s master.  
“Damn him...damn that clod!” She said to herself  
Back with the gems, while Pearl, Steven, and Bismuth were rushing forward, the stubby legged gems were doing their best to keep up. At least until they left their vision. In an empty corridor, Amethyst grabbed Peridot and stopped her.  
“Hey Peri, hold up a sec.” Amethyst said.  
“Amethyst what’s up? We gotta keep up with them or they’ll be waiting.”  
“Yeah sure but just...did you buy any of that junk?” Amethyst said.  
Peridot looked both ways and then back to Amethyst, “You really think that was junk?”  
“I believe the name, that she did all this, and that she made a mistake. But her intentions? No way home girl. That begging bit was trying way too hard. And these things…” Amethyst pulled out her communicator, “...bug me. She shoulda given us these when we first came in here but now that the jig is up, she gives em now? That’s too fishy.”  
Peridot frowned. As much as she didn’t like the idea of Feldspar being dubious, she couldn’t fault Amethyst for being paranoid.  
“I think maybe she’s just acting weird because of the stress of the situation. You’ve known me how long? And how weird I’ve gotten when things got stressful for me? These things happen. But since we’re gonna be together anyway while looking for Tourmaline, I’ll do you a solid.”  
She used her metal powers to make the communicator levitate out of Amethyst’s hands.  
“I’ll at least open this up so we can inspect it and see if it’s something crazy. But if I open it and it’s nothing weird, you gotta promise me to ease up on Feldspar. Okay?”  
Amethyst glared at her with a furrowed brow, but nodded in agreement. With that, Peridot used both her hands to manipulate the little device. She managed to pry open the thing and began to slowly pull it apart piece by piece. She looked over each piece and smiled smugly. She saw typical circuits and wires, nothing out of the ordinary for a standard communication device. She looked over them all for a bit, and then saw something that made her smug look shift to a quizzical stare. She pulled out the item of interest from the little mess. It was a needle. She looked at it intensely, noticing that all the wires and circuits were connected to this single needle. Amethyst looked at it as well.  
“That's a standard part?” She asked.  
“No...no it most certainly isn’t.” Peridot said.  
“So what’s the point of tha--”  
Peridot looked to see Amethyst being pulled away from her at an intense speed. Before she could make a noise, she was engulfed by a sack made of an unknown material. She was trapped, kicking and yelling to get herself out of it. She noticed she was being pulled off the ground and being carried off somewhere. She had no idea who grabbed her, but she was quickly turning to Amethyst’s side about Feldspar. Unfortunately it seemed a bit too late.  
At the base of the ship, the remaining gems were wondering where Peridot and Amethyst went.  
“Did they get stopped by someone? I better go back and look for them.” Bismuth declared.  
Before she could go back inside, she was stopped by White Topaz.  
“Oh hey.” He said, “You looking for the two shorties?”  
“Yeah. Why do you ask and how do you know that?” Bismuth asked.  
“Well I saw you enter with them, now you’re leaving without them, but clearly you didn’t realize you were. I just connected some dots.” White Topaz said, “But to answer the former, Peridot wanted to know more about what she could do with getting the asset under control since it got damaged. Cerussite is with her to help out with the details. Amethyst came because she thinks we’re “skeevy as hell”. We’ll send them off in a pod to you guys later.”  
“Hmm...I still think we should go back for them.” Pearl said.  
“Pearl, it’s fine. Amethyst knows how damaged Tourmaline got. She can help Peridot and Cerussite piece something together. We just gotta get to him before Jasper does anymore damage, and the more we’re standing around the closer she’ll get.” Steven stated.  
Bismuth turned around and faced them. Her frame completely blocked White Topaz out of view.  
“He’s right. We gotta help him out!” Bismuth said.  
“You’re right, I’m just being a worrywort again.” Pearl said.  
“Part of why I love you. Now how about you show me the other reason I love you?” Bismuth asked.  
Pearl flashed a determined look, “Let’s go!”  
Pearl charged out of the ship and leaped out to fall to the ground below. Bismuth laughed, picked up Steven and leaped down with him.  
“You think we could’ve gotten a ship first!?” Steven yelled as they fell down.  
“Probably! But this is a faster way down!” Bismuth shouted back.  
Left alone, White Topaz stood in the same position he was in when he talked to Bismuth. He stared at the door as it closed, a look of insurmountable rage on his face.  
“They know...that bitch told them what she’s done...this is bad. They’re gonna screw everything up.” He thought to himself.  
He heard a beeping noise and looked into his pocket at his communicator. It had a small text message from Black Pearl.  
“I got what we need. Come to the blank space.” It read.  
His anger subsiding, he put it back in his pocket and quickly walked to the space. He composed himself. Things were looking dire a moment ago, but now he has a glimmer of hope. If this goes as planned, things can get back in place.  
He went to the lower levels of the ring, past many guards on the way but they paid him no heed. He was almost to his goal when he was stopped by Stibnite.  
“Excuse me sir.” She greeted, “I’m hoping you can answer a question I’ve had on my mind for a while.”  
He was letting off so many curse words in his head. He was so close to what he needed. Feldspar was at her most distracted and now he was face to face with a potential whistleblower.  
“Sure by all means Stib.” He answered coolly.  
“I’ve noticed that you’ve taken to walking around the ship instead of going out to assist the crystal gems with collection. Why is that? I recall this being very important to you.” She asked.  
“It is but...I know I can’t handle it. If I could, I would’ve been able to prevent this whole thing from happening. I know I’ll be in the way if I go.” He admitted.  
“Oh so it’s shame that motivates you.” Stibnite said.  
“Guess you could say it’s that.” White Topaz said.  
Stibnite hummed to herself. With that, she walked around him and continued on her way. White Topaz calmly walked away from her, thankful the conversation didn’t take too long.  
“Oh and sir!” She called out again.  
He stopped short and looked over his shoulder.  
“Yes?” He asked.  
“Please look after Jet. She’s been skulking about by herself lately. You know how she is. She needs more help. I’ve been talking with her plenty and she’s worried about you.”  
“Oh...of course.” He said.  
“Thank you.”  
With that Stibnite left and White Topaz went on his way. He rushed over to a remote corner of the ship. He opened the door to a small supply closet filled with scrap metal. Hanging from two cocoons were the struggling Peridot and Amethyst. Black Pearl was the one who suspended them, glaring up at them with her bright yellow eyes. She looked over her shoulder to see White Topaz enter.  
“Lock the door.” Black Pearl demanded.  
White Topaz shut the door behind him and sealed it with a code.  
“Thank the stars you’re here. The little ones are giving me a headache.”  
“I’ll give you more than that you weird fat butted spider!” Peridot screamed.  
White Topaz summoned two sais from his gems and immediately thrust them to their gems. The two trapped gems clenched their teeth tightly as Whtie Topaz stared up at them.  
“I was hoping to get the pearl to come with us but you’re the biggest win here Peridot. Now then...we’re gonna have a quick talk.” 

/**/  
The sun was beating down in the desolate canyon. Vaguely humanoid holes adorned it’s walls, showcasing its history as a kindergarten. Abandoned injectors rust and bake in the intense sunlight, the rays shimmering into blinding flashes against their glass tops. Feeling that same sensation of burning metal was Tourmaline, who had wandered into the canyon.  
Tourmaline had run for hours now. He didn’t even understand why he did. He didn’t understand why he did most of anything now. His mind was a mix of white noise and his own thoughts screaming to get out. If it weren’t for the helmet stuck on his head he thought it would explode from the amount of force he felt bombarded by. It was like a knife blade was being thrust into and out of his head constantly, as if it were scrubbing out his mind and attempting to replace it with whatever the binding suit wished to implant within him. Sunlight shone into his open eye whole. Between the sunlight, his cracked eye lens, and the constant static going on, words could do little to describe the amount of sensory overload he was going through. He could see clearly through his open eye but his depth perception was reduced considerably by a wall of static and bright light. It would’ve been tolerable if it weren’t for the sense of pain in his body.  
The damage he sustained from his first fight shut off whatever was suppressing his unneeded senses. The suit had little insulation, so he could feel himself being cooked from the outside due to the intense heat. That pain was insignificant to what intense pressure the suit itself was putting on him. It was like an iron maiden. He couldn’t see inside but it felt like most of his body was being stabbed by needles. The suit was making sure that there was nothing he could do to escape it, despite his efforts to destroy it.  
He wished that the gem he was fighting had followed him. She was able to damage it to this point, maybe she could destroy the whole thing? But he ran. He tried to think about why he left. The scream he let out, it was because the suit had shocked his form. Like some invasive energy had injected itself directly into his form, its will attempting to overtake his. It won that time but he could feel his strength returning. He could see clearly with one eye, and being able to clearly see the world around him was motivation enough to fight back.  
He looked at the drills of the abandoned injectors and thought maybe if he were to be drilled through it would destroy enough of the suit. But then he thought of the risk of his gems being damaged. It would be pointless if he crippled or even killed himself. He needed to see them again. With his own eyes and not through the wretched machine. As he weighed his options, he heard a massive thud behind him. He turned around to see a dust cloud. Walking out of it was his potential savior: Jasper.  
“You...back…” He said in his metallic, static ridden tone.  
“Of course. A tin can like you couldn’t hope to escape me. At least for long. Gotta hand it to you though...you can at least run fast. But don’t think you’ll be able to run away this time. The only way you’re leaving this place is as scrap metal.” Jasper said.  
He stared blankly at her.  
“Tch, of course you don’t care. Don’t even know why I’m bothering saying all this to you. Maybe it’s cause you’re giving me a rare opportunity.” Jasper started advancing towards him, “You see I’ve been trying to be on my best behavior, for the sake of my diamond. No destruction, no fighting, nothing that I was designed for. And it’s been nothing but misery doing so. With you...I have an opportunity I thought lost to me: A reason to fight. So before I clobber you, I’d like to thank you for being here.”  
Jasper was right in front of Tourmaline. She towered over him, the top of his head barely lining up with her chest. She had a sinister grin on her face.  
“And I’m glad that we’re alone. Now it can be a real fight instead of a total stomp.”  
Tourmaline kept staring at her. She knew she could break his bindings. And from the looks of it she wouldn’t be hard to convince to do so.  
“Shut...up…” He said.  
“Excuse y--”  
He leapt up and delivered a jaw shattering kick to the side of her face. Jasper’s eyes widened with a mix of pain and surprise. The impact sent her rolling a few feet away. Though the impact was intense it wasn’t enough to really shake her up, so she managed to stop herself before rolling into a rock. She stared at Tourmaline, who was now in a more aggressive stance.  
“Break...break!” He shouted.  
Jasper had an ear to ear grin on her face. Her opportunity was even greater than she anticipated. All the hours she spent chasing him down added to the anticipation of having one last amazing fight. She could barely contain her laughter. She was overjoyed.  
“Let’s see who breaks first.”  
Jasper rolled into a ball and charged towards Tourmaline. He clenched fists and bolstered himself for the impact. His hands were thrust forward and planted one foot behind himself. Jasper collided with him like a downhill boulder. He could barely hold her back in his position, his feet grinding and slowly tearing the rock beneath his feet apart. His instincts told him to dodge but he knew she could do some damage to his suit. Bits of his hands were being torn apart by the friction of her roll. She uncurled from her position and slammed her head forward. The suit forced him to dodge away from the impact. He knew that headbutt was the key to his salvation. A hit to the head would shatter his helmet and possibly be able to free him. A hit anywhere would be enough to destroy more of the suit and relieve the pain he was feeling. At the very least he could fight against its will better and let the hulking gem tear it off him rather than make her work for it.  
Jasper lunged forward and started punching at him again. Tourmaline dodged a few of the choice attacks and then countered with a spinning roundhouse to her hip. The suit may be urging him to dodge and fight, but at the very least he could try to fight as poorly as he could. The kick was enough to get her to stumble but by no means was enough to take her off her feet. Jasper grabbed his leg and raised her elbow. That got him and the suit to go into critical mode and act in unison for the first time since it was forced on him. Using Jasper as leverage, he kicked upwards to her elbow as she thrust it down towards his shin. The top of his foot collided with it and diverted the direction of the attack. He fell on his back but managed to slam the blade on the back of his heel into Jasper’s thigh. She growled in pain and let go of his other leg. He quickly flipped backwards back onto his feet and stared her down. She started laughing to herself.  
“I had a feeling. Thought that extra padding was there for extra armor, but the reason it’s so thick is because that’s where your power sources are at, aren’t they?! I don’t even need to break all of you. Just your legs!”  
She wasn’t wrong. The insulated parts of him were the most important parts, and they were his sources of power. But they weren’t generators: they were his gemstones! Her presence went from a blessing to a curse in a single sentence. He wanted the suit off but it didn’t mean he wanted to die either. With the suit acting up to protect him and his opponent’s ignorance of his gem placement if not existence of said gemstones, the fight started looking like a hopeless endeavor. He turned around and began to run. As he dashed off, Jasper managed to catch up to him with a high speed roll. She slammed the back of her fist into his face and with a loud clang sent him flying backwards.  
“No way! You aren’t getting past me this time!” She shouted.  
Tourmaline bounced off the ground and rolled into a defensive stance. The hit to his head wasn’t enough to decimate the armor but it felt like it did some damage to it. He could see a bit more clearly for a second before the familiar white noise perverted his vision. He could try to dash away again but it felt like she could predict him if he attempted to flee. He was faster, but turning his back for a second on her could result in a destroyed leg, or even the gem on his back getting cracked from a charge from her. Running wasn’t an option anymore. But from the looks of it she wasn’t going to exclusively focus on his legs. She may know his weak point, but she didn’t have tunnel vision on just his legs. He just had to not give her as many opportunities to hit them and she’d have to settle for hurting the rest of him.  
Jasper was about to roll into her ball form again. Tourmaline rushed forward and crouched in front of her face as she was mid roll. His claws scraped the ground as he swung his open hand upwards. As Jasper rolled, he caught her chin with his open palm. The force of her roll and the force of his palm strike was enough to stop her before she gained too much momentum. She landed on her knees and Tourmaline began to slap her with his open palm strikes. He put his entire upper body into each blow, twisting back and releasing strike after strike as hard as he could. Jasper’s head swung side to side with each vicious blow until she suddenly grabbed his right arm before his palm could collide with her head. There were gashes on her cheeks and chin from the claws scraping against her face, but they weren’t deep. Dim orange light escaped the small wounds as she raised Tourmaline by his one arm. His feet weren’t touching the ground and Jasper was looking less amused and far more pissed.  
“That was annoying!” She shouted in his face as she squeezed his right arm as tightly as she could. He could feel the armor on his forearm cave in on his real arm. His hunch was correct. He just needed to keep pissing her off.  
He kicked at her groin, which also annoyed her. She reached to grab his leg but as she reached she pulled his legs back as fast as a switchblade and then shot them forward, delivering a vicious dropkick to her chest. The blow was enough to knock her off her feet and send her flying a few yards, but she didn’t let go of his arm. As she slid, he attempted to pry his hand free, only for her to grab his other arm. She got on one knee, still barely a few inches off from his full height and glared at him furiously. She pulled his arms apart and slammed her helmet into his chest. The blow wasn’t nearly as quake inducing as the first time he was hit by it, but it was still a mighty blow. Her grip on him didn’t hold, but that was the armor’s fault. She held onto what was left of his armor in her hands, nothing but scrap metal now. The cyborg gem rolled backwards into a stone wall. The impact sent a crack upwards about ten feet upwards towards a still embedded injector. The crack was enough to loosen it and it began to fall. The impact of the giant device created a thick dust cloud. It gave Tourmaline enough time to look over his body and see the extent of the damage he sustained.  
His chest had cracks all over it. Maybe it was a harder hit than he assumed or it was simply already damaged from his previous fight. The reasons didn’t matter to him either way. He looked at his arms to see that all that was left of the armor was on his hands and upper biceps. She ripped the rest of it off, leaving the small gray sheet of under armor that helped bind him.  
“Good.” He thought, “Just a bit more.”  
The fact he could clearly think four words without some sort of interruption was enough motivation to keep him going. Jasper was stomping over towards him, the scrap metal still in her clenched fists. She was geared up to tear the thing apart. She knew the power source was the simplest way to take the android down, but she also thought about Steven’s wishes to capture it in as much intact as possible. She wasn’t sure what she could do to do so, as she already tore off its arms, but at the same time she was starting to lose her patience and just wanted to clobber the thing.  
Tourmaline leapt over the injector and tossed a small rock at Jasper. She instinctively blocked it, allowing Tourmaline the opportunity to plant his feet on the cavern wall. He sprung off it with insane force, crumbling a small radius of the wall and caving a couple of the holes in. As the rubble from the shattered rock fell to Jasper’s feet, she just noticed her enemy speeding towards her like a harpoon. He flipped midair and extended his leg outwards. His kick connected with her stomach. Jasper wheezed for a split second at the impact before being shot into the earth. She felt rock and dirt shatter against the back of her frame and soon felt the same sensation against the back of her head. His kick managed to bury her twenty feet away from her and ten feet deep.  
Jasper couldn’t help but grit her teeth and cringed in pain from the insane impact. There was an imprint on her stomach a few inches deep. If she had organs, her intestines would’ve been crushed. If she could bleed, she would be coughing up blood. But all she could do was groan and feel the pain radiate from her stomach to the entirety of her form, it begging her to poof and reform.The only reprieve she had was that the cool dirt shielded her from the hot sun. But she had a mission. She had a mission for the first time in years and she would be killed once more before she failed her diamond again. She grit her teeth and ignored the pain as she clawed and dug her way back up. She resurfaced from the ground, breaking out one arm first. She slammed her hand into the rock and housed herself out like a zombie out of her grave. The quartz appeared in a helpless position, but she came up with a plan as she dug herself upwards. The android would be determined to kill her. To kick her gem in as soon as it saw her face. But she had one arm just under the rocky surface. If it were to kick her, she would catch it off guard and use her other arm to grab its leg. She knew she could crush its shin if she squeezed as hard as she could. She could’ve even managed to slam his body around enough to deliver another powerful headbutt. But as she got up, all she saw was the android staring at her. She waited like a snapping turtle with its mouth open, begging her prey to get too close. At the very least it gave her an opportunity to recuperate.  
Tourmaline simply extended his arm forward to her and pointed to her. He then wagged his finger at her, signifying he wouldn’t play her games. Jasper stared dumbfounded by the act. It then slowly rolled its arm over and curled its finger towards himself.  
Jasper was slowly processing the action. Her arms got less tense as she fully took in the implication of that motion: her opponent was mocking her. In all her years, only two foes actively had the gall to insult her to her face. And now, a malfunctioning renegade bucket of bolts was taking her lightly. She was absolutely livid.  
“Do you know who I am? I’M THE PERFECT WARRIOR YOU WORTHLESS SCRAP!!” She burst from the ground sending rocks and dirt everywhere as she charged Tourmaline. No ball form, no charging, not even her headbutt. She wanted to beat this thing to death with her bare hands.  
She was on Tourmaline and started swinging at him. He blocked and occasionally punched and kicked at her. The blows were insignificant to a raging quartz like her, but they were his best way of saying “Try harder!”. They did this dance around the injector, Jasper’s blows occasionally hitting the side and severely denting it. They made it over to the clawed feet of the injector and Tourmaline bumped his back into one of the legs. Jasper punched at him but he ducked under the blow, only for his face to be caught by her other hand. She dug her nails into the suit’s scalp and pulled it back. She slammed his head into the leg, denting it. She then repeated the action over and over until the leg snapped. As it did, the back of his helmet shattered. Tourmaline could barely comprehend what else was happening to him. His sight was slowly coming back to his right eye, but it felt like the rest of the suit was still binding him. It didn’t help that Jasper arched back throwing him over her head and into the dirt. She mercilessly planted his skull into the hard rock like he planted her earlier. She ripped her hand back and tore off the scalp of the helmet. She threw it against the injector and it shattered into bits of metal and circuits. She then grabbed the piece of the injector’s leg and pointed it down towards him. Tourmaline held his arm up in defense and Jasper rammed the jagged metal through it. He managed to direct it away from his body but now his arm was pinned to the ground. He attempted to raise his other arm but she stomped on it. He was now completely at her mercy. She looked down on him with complete animosity. His face plate was practically flaking off at this point.  
“I don’t know what kind of thing you are, but clearly are capable of taunting me. Since you’re programmed to feel arrogance, let’s see if you feel pain too!” She roared out.  
With that, she placed one hand on his face and the other on his torso. Her nails pierced through the armor and she used all of her strength to strain against the metal. He thrashed and writhed under her, the pain unimaginable. The suit was never designed to be taken off this way, and it was telling every bit of him to make it stop. But he was struggling against the suit’s protests. He wanted this to happen anyway it could happen. And with one strained yell, Jasper ripped back and tore off the front of his torso and crushed his face plate. She laughed victoriously as she stared at the two pieces of metal. She slammed them together and looked at the newly formed scrap.  
“I’m not an errand girl, and my diamond may be displeased with my actions, but I don’t care. You brought this on yourself. That hack Feldspar can put you back together.” She looked back down to him, “Now what to...to…”  
The fury on her face was washed away by astonishment. She stared down at her victim as her animosity turned to confusion. Instead of circuits and wires, it was light. Pure, green and white light. The stared at where the helmet used to be to see the light shape a head. She continued looking down to see a neck, then down towards the open glowing chest. She saw on the edges of the wound she formed were small octagon shaped metal segments. From these miniature segments, cracks of red light perverted the being’s light. The most shocking thing of all, deep inside what she assumed was its chest...was a small, blue, upside down teardrop shaped gemstone.  
“Help...me...Help...me…” Tourmaline begged. His voice was clearer than it was before but still obstructed. As he spoke, it was as if his own voice was feeding back into itself, resulting in it overlapping and creating a much more ominous and disturbing tone.  
Jasper stared dumbfounded at it. She slowly reached inside and attempted to pierce the light and grab the gemstone. As her fingers penetrated it, Tourmaline arched back and screeched as loud as he could. Jasper retracted her fingers and hopped off of it. Tourmaline writhed on the ground and used his other hand to try and tear off the rest of the suit. The quartz warrior stared at the bizarre scene, confused and slightly disturbed.  
“What are you?” She asked.  
Tourmaline ignored her and continued to try and rip the rest of the suit off.  
“Rip...tear...rip...rip it off me!” He yelled.  
He managed to slightly peel it off but stopped and screamed in pain again. Jasper shook her head and tried to process what was happening. A being she was told to be an android that escaped from a ship turned out to be a gem imprisoned in some sort of suit. As she saw it writhe in pain, she scowled in anger thinking about Feldspar.  
“So this is what she decided to do with her time while away from the diamonds. That freak!” She thought to herself, “Maybe I can tear off the rest of the suit…”  
Just then, she heard someone land behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Garnet.  
“Jasper! What have you done to the android!?” Garnet demanded.  
“I wrecked it but...well look.” Jasper pointed at him.  
Garnet looked and was perplexed by the bizarre sight. She went over to get a closer look and managed to see the gemstone inside it. Her astonishment just barely matched Jasper's, though her expression was obscured by her shades. She turned away and looked at Jasper.  
“What is this?” Garnet asked.  
“I don’t know. But if I were to guess it’s a fusion trapped in a suit.” Jasper responded  
“How...how do you know this is a fusion?”  
“Did you see the gem inside? It’s an aquamarine. No aquamarine I’ve met was anywhere near this thing’s size. I tried to smash one of its legs earlier but it was desperate to protect it. Both its legs and back got that extra metal on em, so I’m guessing that it’s got more gems under them.” Jasper explained.  
Garnet looked at Tourmaline’s head and gently touched his cheek. She felt empathetic to his pain, but she wasn’t sure what she could do. As she stared at him she looked through all the possible roads that could come from this event. There were too many to count, and they were all ones she disregarded earlier. Amethyst was right, this was a gem...no multiple gems stuck together. Who could’ve predicted something this insane? She didn’t have a lot of options, so she decided to stick with her guns. She got up and looked back to Jasper.  
“We don’t have many options. As much as I hate to do this, she’s the only one who knows about this and can explain everything about it. We need to take them back to Feldspar--”  
Tourmaline shrieked and started struggling even harder. Instead of his own body he was trying to remove the metal that pinned him down.  
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!! HATE...HATE...HATE...HATE...HATE...FELDSPAR!” He yelled.  
Garnet was caught off guard by his words. Jasper on the other hand grew resolute in her own decision. When she started this mission, all she wanted to do was make her diamond proud of her again. Now looking at this pathetic thing, she could see pieces of herself. A warrior thrust into a world they never wanted, forced to abide by others orders and now to be discarded or reformed despite its protests. She wasn’t going to hand him over to Feldspar.  
“We aren’t doing that. We need to take care of it ourselves. That freak isn’t laying a hand on that gem.” Jasper declared.  
Garnet looked back at Jasper with an annoyed expression. She wasn’t expecting Jasper to be stubborn about this either.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“We can solve this ourselves! I just need to tear off the rest of the suit!”  
“And what if you accidentally shatter the gems in the process? How would Steven feel if you came to him holding more shards?” Garnet explained.  
Jasper was annoyed that the fusion was lecturing her and using her diamond as a way to sway her resolve.  
“Then...I’ll take him to Peridot. She could figure this out.” She suggested.  
“This was a suit devised by one of the most respected minds in all of Homeworld. We don’t have the time to meticulously go through every detail of it to try and remove it. Feldspar is the only one who can. He needs to go back!” Garnet said.  
Tourmaline was desperately struggling to get the thing off of him. He may be strong, but without the suit’s extra strength to manipulate his form, he could barely get the metal to budge. Garnet was slowly approaching him, doing her best to be gentle with him.  
“I know you’re scared. But I’m not sure what I can do on my own. I have to take you back. But I promise that if Feldspar has hurt you, I will protect you--”  
Garnet felt the top portion of her hair getting scrunched up by Jasper’s hand. She gripped the chunk of afro tightly and stopped Garnet from moving.  
“He doesn’t want to go.” Jasper declared.  
She threw Garnet away from Tourmaline. The fusion landed on her feet, though she skidded back a bit as she did. She started walking back to Jasper as she stood in her way.  
“Don’t do this. I didn’t come here to fight.” Garnet warned.  
“Smart choice. You don’t have anything here that you can throw me into. Now piss off. That fusion is coming with me.” Jasper warned.  
Jasper awaited the chance to have a rematch with Garnet. She wanted to prove to her that she was the superior gem after all and would gladly pummel her. Now she had a reason to fight, and was unwilling to let Garnet try to change her mind.  
“Get out of my way Jasper!” Garnet yelled.  
Garnet was beginning to lose her patience. She knew that Feldspar was untrustworthy, but she didn’t want to risk solving the problem herself. She reflected the times that this scenario came to pass, and all the ways the fusion wouldn’t survive. A lot of them were outside of Feldspar’s facility. She hated to admit it, but the fusion was safer with Feldspar. At the very least she could interrogate her into giving her some answers. All that talk about enriching fusion, was this what she meant? She needed to know. But above all, she wanted the most surefire way to save that fusion.  
Garnet and Jasper were right in each other’s faces. The two glaring at each other.  
“Last chance. Let me take the fusion to Peridot, or I’ll beat you into the ground and do it anyway.” Jasper threatened.  
“You know that this is the wrong choice.” Garnet said.  
Jasper swung first and Garnet blocked the punch. She summoned her gauntlets and punched back, hitting Jasper square in the stomach. Jasper was still injured from Tourmaline’s previous hit, so it stung even more than it normally would. But Jasper wouldn’t let it go in her favor. Not this time. She grabbed the fusion’s arm with both hands and attempted to snap it like a twig. Garnet grabbed Jasper’s other hand by the wrist and wrenched it off of her. The two began a power struggle, each attempting to gain the upper hand.  
As their struggle continued, Tourmaline was struggling to get free. He knew he had to get away by any means necessary. He began to claw at the exposed light of his pinned arm. He dug the metal claws deep into his forearm and attempted to completely sever it. After properly tearing it apart from the inside out, he got to his feet in a crouching position. Using his leg strength, he pulled against the shard of metal as hard as he could. It slowly ripped apart his arm until his entire body frame snapped back. He managed to free himself. He looked at the mangled remains of his arm and then proceeded to focus. He remembered the abilities he had before being placed in the sealing suit and his arm slowly reformed back to normal. He could even see bits of skin being formed on the newly grown arm. He didn’t notice it either, but there were similar bits on his face. He could’ve run away then and there, but what would that do for him? Just put him back where he started with his only option to remove the suit potentially killing him. He looked to the two struggling gems and came to the realization that he needed Jasper even more now. He made his decision.  
Garnet was starting to gain the upper hand in the power struggle. Despite Jasper being the stronger gem in terms of physical strength, the damage she sustained in her two fights was finally catching up to her. Garnet could tell as well.  
“Jasper, this is idiotic! All you’re doing is acting like your old self! Stop being selfish and let me help the fusion!” Garnet yelled.  
“You don’t...know what you’re talking about!” Jasper yelled back, “He wants my help, not yours! He told me!”  
“Jasper please just listen to me! Steven will be in contact with Feldspar. He’ll see the fusion. He’ll know what’s going on and be able to help too! If you do this on your own he’ll have to hunt you down and take the fusion back by force. Do you want that?!”  
Jasper’s angry expression waned. She got so caught up in doing this for Steven...she didn’t even realize how he would feel about her doing this. All she wanted to do was be helpful to him. To do something right by him. To make up for everything she had done to him and what she made him become. Garnet could sense this and began to let up the same way that Jasper slowly stopped struggling. Jasper was finally listening to reason. And that’s when a jagged hand ripped its way through Garnet’s stomach. Garnet let out a painful wheeze at the backstab. Jasper and her looked down in astonishment at the arm. It was a claw similar to the android’s suit, but instead of metal it was coated in fine green crystal. Jasper looked behind Garnet to see Tourmaline. His blank face now had a few patches of skin, a scowling mouth, and one bright green eye on the left side of his face.  
“My name...is...Tourmaline!” He yelled as he ripped out of Garnet’s stomach.  
Garnet stumbled away, clutching the hole in her gut. Tourmaline was about to leap onto her and continue his assault, but Jasper grabbed him before he could. He struggled in her bear hug, but he didn’t claw at Jasper’s arm.  
“She’s...working for Feldspar...get rid of her!” He begged.  
Jasper wanted nothing more than to see Garnet poof by her hands, but not like this. And not with Tourmaline in the state he was in. She gave one last look to Garnet, who was struggling to keep her form together.  
“I...I’ll be at Peridot’s home base! She’ll be able to help him. I know it!” With that Jasper rushed off towards the canyon’s warp pad. She leaped onto the small plateau it was placed on and warped away.  
Garnet was struggling to keep her form ready, but she knew she had to warn the others about this. Jasper was acting completely irrational and could potentially do irreversible harm to Tourmaline. She began to walk over to the warp pad. She leaped up when she was close enough to the outcrop the warp pad was on. She almost made it to the pad when she felt several sharp pains in her back and neck. She barely had any time to process the pain when she poofed. Her gems fell towards the ground only to be caught by a mysterious gem. She stared at the ruby and sapphire in her hand and made a call.  
“Bad news...asset got away. Warp pad. Taken by Jasper, was pretty banged up. Saw bits of the gem inside it. Yeah? Don’t have anywhere specific, but I heard something about Peridot’s home base. Think you can figure that out for me? Oh we could convince those bleeding hearts to go after her ourselves. Afterall Feldspar, Jasper just pulverized their second in command.”  
The gem put the two gemstones in a bubble and sent them away to an unknown destination.  
“You can have that present to play with while I do the dirty work. Did you give them the stuff? Good. I’ll swing by and pick up the key to it. Hey things may be a bit rushed but you can still pull this off. This world can be yours, just play your cards correctly while I play mine.”


	3. Old Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things have gone from bad to worse with Feldspar's plans. In her attempt to regain control, she summons a mysterious gem from beyond the stars to handle the situation with Tourmaline and the crystal gems. Meanwhile, Lapis is going to have to confront her thoughts and feelings on Jasper when she arrives at her home holding Tourmaline in her arms.

Thirty Minutes Earlier…

Amethyst and Peridot were facing their potential deaths. Amethyst knew something was wrong from the get go with Feldspar & her crew and now her feelings have been validated in the worst possible way. White Topaz currently held his sai right at his and her friend’s gemstones. Stuck in a cocoon formed by his associate Black Pearl, the little gem was stuck and shapeshifting was too risky with the sai right at her gem. She didn’t know if her friends were facing the same problem or the two of them just happened to learn too much. She could only think about what would happen to them if they attempted to escape. As much as it angered her, she was trapped and had to go along with White Topaz’s little game.  
“Now then...we’re gonna have a quick talk.” White Topaz stated.  
Amethyst wriggled around her cocoon and swung about a little in an act of defiance.  
“I’m not telling you or your creep boss anything you prick!” She shouted.  
“Yeah! I already tore up that little thing Feldspar gave us. We know it’s something bad. How about you tell us what it is!?” Peridot yelled.  
Amethyst stopped swinging and looked over at Peridot.  
“Girl. How are you supposed to threaten him into telling us like this?” Amethyst asked.  
“Simple. With all this scrap metal around, I can use my metal power--”  
The little green gem’s valourous speech was cut short my White Topaz’s fist to her nose. She swung backwards from the force and slowly swung back and forth til it slowly stopped. She clenched her teeth and her nose was bruised. Amethyst was even more angry.  
“Hey! Don’t you hurt her asshole!” Amethyst yelled.  
“Tell her to chill out then. I brought you two here because it was quiet. It’s pretty pointless if you guys scream your heads off.” Black Pearl demanded.  
“Amethyst...just do what they say.” Peridot requested.  
“But Peri!”  
“Face it. We’re alone here. No point in making things worse for us.” Peridot said.  
“What kind of quitter talk is--”  
“Hello...being ignored again. Even after hitting you in the face.” White Topaz said.  
“Oh for the...we are trying to have a heart to heart here!” Amethyst yelled.  
“Yeah and so am I but you two squirts keep yelling at and threatening me.” White Topaz said.  
“You punched her in the face!” Amethyst yelled.  
“Yes. Because she was about to shred me and my friend to bits. Right?” He looked over at Peridot.  
“...Yeah. I was gonna avoid your gems though.” She admitted.  
“Considering you don’t know where Black Pearl’s gem is...that probably wouldn’t have worked out as well as you think. Now...may I please speak?”  
“Tch, whatever. Not like we’re gonna listen to your stupid bad guy monologue.”  
“Good, I’ll cut to the chase. We hate Feldspar’s guts too.”  
The two stared wide eyed at him. Was he being serious? He’s been working under Feldspar and had played a part in kidnapping the two of them. And yet he has the gall to claim that he’s on their side?  
“Bull crap. You two just captured us because Peridot just figured out that little communicator was a weird weapon.” Amethyst said.  
“That was an excuse to grab you two. Feldspar is constantly watching and she would’ve suspected us if we asked you to come along. Since you two were messing around with the device she gave you, you looked like a threat to her plan. So I grab you, and now Feldspar thinks we’re still loyal. Win win.” Black Pearl explained.  
“Yeah good excuse. How about you tell us what that device actually is then?” Amethyst demanded  
“It’s a device for controlling gems. The needle inserts itself into the form of the gem and burrows deep inside it until it reaches the host gem. From there it drills into it and brainwashes said gem.”  
Peridot was mortified.  
“Oh my...that’s...that’s messed up! How does it even do that!?” She demanded.  
“Hey I’m not a scientist. Some junk about wavelengths. She used the rejuvenator as a base for the thing. The idea was instead of reverting gems to their base form she would insert her own set of directives and make them into ideal workers. Specifically for her.” White Topaz said.  
“Is that why all the gems around here are so weird?” Amethyst asked.  
“Yes. That’s why all the calcite gems are mindless.” Black Pearl explained.  
“And your friends got them too? How do we know you two aren’t just messing with us? Jerk seems like the type to play these mind games.” Amethyst said.  
The back of Black Pearl began to glow and she pulled out one of the devices from her gemstone. She showed it to Peridot and Amethyst.  
“I keep them on me so she doesn’t suspect anything. White Topaz doesn’t need one due to his history with Feldspar.”  
“History?”  
“As she told you, I was one of her experiments. White Topaz were discontinued and she gave me a purpose again. The last two of us were put together and we became an asset rather than a hindrance. I thanked her for it and have been loyal ever since.”  
Peridot frowned at the statement, “Okay so...why the change now?”  
“Simply put, I’m not a moron. She put two of me together and made me one. That’s nice. That doesn’t equate to me going through with a plan to overthrow the diamond authority.” White Topaz said.  
“Woah what!?! What the heck are you talking about!?” Peridot shouted.  
“Can you...please stop yelling? You’ll blow our cover.” White Topaz said, “That was the practical reason. We also got a personal reason.”  
“The gem inside...Tourmaline...he’s our friend.” Black Pearl admitted.  
Amethyst’s anger subsided and she started to calm down. She began to feel empathy for the two gems, despite the fact that they currently have her strung up like a caterpillar.  
“You knew that gem?” Amethyst asked.  
“Yeah. Feldspar found him stranded on a lone asteroid way out in a void in space. Since she picked him up, he lived with us. She experimented on him gradually and the two of us would be there to train and assist him. We had a great relationship. Then Tourmaline got sick of the plan and experiments that Feldspar demanded from him. Without our knowledge, he was put in the suit. We were about to get a similar treatment when he freaked out and came here. Feldspar said she would forgive our emotional outburst if we got him back, but screw that. Personally, I wanna snap that bitch’s neck and get out of here. But we can’t just do that. That’s where you two come in.” Topaz explained.  
Black Pearl pulled a small pod out of her gemstone and handed it to White Topaz. He held it up to Peridot’s face, “This little thing contains the schematics for the suit. Everything you need to know about him and the suit itself. Most importantly how to take it off of him. Can I trust you with this?”  
Peridot furrowed her brow and a new sense of duty arose in her. She nodded.  
Amethyst looked at him and nodded.  
“You got it man. We’ll help him.” She promised.  
“Good.” Black Pearl said.  
The pearl snapped her fingers and the cocoons vanished. The two gems fell to the ground and White Topaz kneeled down in front of Peridot. He held the data pod back up to her face and she snatched it from him.  
“How are we getting out of here?” She asked.  
“I got an idea. How fast can you guys reform?” White Topaz asked.  
“Uh...about a few seconds. But things can get weird if I do. Peridot, not so much.” Amethyst said.  
“Yeah it’ll be at least a few hours before that happens.” Peridot commented.  
“Damn...well maybe if we hurry we can get you two into a pod. Bp, did you sense anyone come in?” He turned to her as he asked.  
“No. No one tripped any of the wires I set up. We’re good to go.” Black pearl opened the door and was face to face with Jet. She flinched in surprise at her.  
“Jet what are you doing here!?” Black Pearl said.  
“Stibnite said she saw White Topaz go this way. I also heard a bunch of yelling. Everything okay?” Jet looked behind White Topaz to see Amethyst and Peridot tensed up, “Why are the two tiny crystal gems in here?”  
“I...we...look, Jet. We need them to get out of here. It’s important for all of us, okay?” White Topaz said.  
“Are you doing something bad?” Jet asked.  
The two tensed up. They had no idea whether or not they could trust Jet. She was always quiet and kept to herself. So it was unknown whose side she really stood by. White Topaz wanted to draw his sai just to be sure, but that would’ve caused a panic. Black Pearl was slowly motioning towards a spare wire she left by. If it was the right one, she could yank it and potentially cut Jet and they could run for it. As she motioned to it, she noticed Jet leaning her head back.  
“Ah...AH…” She was about to sneeze.  
Black Pearl was ready to pull the cord. Everyone else was ready to make a break for it. Jet threw her head forward and with one choo, she let out a massive cloud of fog. Black Pearl pulled the cord but clumsily. She fell backwards from the force of the cloud she expelled. Jet then rushed in through the fog and tackled White Topaz. He fell over and she grabbed the two small gems by their arms. She swiftly exited the room and flew down the hall, covered in the veil of fog. She made it to a nearby hangar bay and opened a pod. She threw the two gems into the pod and they slammed against the wall of the pod. They looked at her to see her blue iris turned light gray, and her pupils were a ghostly blue.  
“Beat it.” She demanded.  
The two gave a thumbs up and Peridot quickly moved to the controls and started the pod. Jet stepped back as the ship began to power up. It sunk through the floor and presumably exited the main ship to leave the accursed place. Her eyes shifted back to normal and she looked over her shoulder to see a bewildered White Topaz and Black Pearl.  
“I...huh.” White Topaz uttered, “Thanks?”  
She turned to face them, “I listened through the door for a while. Tourmaline is my friend too. But if you’re doing this, you need to promise me that you’ll make sure I’ll be fine when Feldspar is taken down.” Jet demanded.  
“Fine? Jet what are you talking about?” Black Pearl asked.  
“Promise me you’ll look after me.” Jet repeated.  
White Topaz walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, “Yes. We’re in this together now. I’ll do what I can to help you.”  
Jet still had a steadfast expression, but she wasn’t disagreeing with him so White Topaz believed everything would be okay. The important thing was that they got the schematics in the hands of the crystal gems. He can only hope that they can take care of Tourmaline before Feldspar gets to him first. 

/**/  
Now…

It was a lovely afternoon out in the countryside. A gentle breeze swept through the corn field. A little tractor was parked next to a greenhouse filled with various flowers, vegetables, and fruits. Across from the green house, a crystalline warp pad was embedded in the ground. It had a path connected to the base of it and that little path went a short distance away towards a little house with blue roof tiling and white paint. The house had a disproportionately large garage filled with various tools of both human and gem origin. Behind the house was a mid sized swimming hole filled to the brim with crystal clear water. Said water was rippling and rising into various shapes and columns. The hydrokinesis was being done by Lapis Lazuli and her friend, another lapis lazuli that went by the nickname Freckles.  
“So is there a reason you went on your way back home instead of looking at the big ship?” Freckles asked.  
“Just got bored of it. It left on its own to go look at stuff and Steven said it was another gem with a weird sob story. Steven’s got all the other crystal gems with him, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Lapis Lazuli declared, “So what about you? Have you decided on what you want to do with yourself? You graduated a year ago and are still bumming around there.”  
Freckles flopped onto her back and stared at the sky. A column of water collapsed, sending ripples throughout the rest of the water.  
“I’m still unsure. Part of me still wants to find my old friend and convince her to try this life out. Rest of me isn’t sure what to do.” She admitted.  
“Then why don’t you do it? The worst she can do is say no. And I’ll come help you if you want.”  
“Yeah but...I still don’t know what will happen after it. Kinda hard to move on.”  
“I understand how you feel.”  
“Cause of your thing with that jasper?”  
Lapis floundered a bit in her concentration and the water ring she made almost lost it’s form, rippling all over before she retained its form, “How do you know about that?”  
“I know you get stressed out when she walks near Little Homeschool. But I can tell that you probably had some bad experiences with her.” Freckles twirled her ponytail with one finger, “I figured it would be a bad idea to ask about it but...I dunno forget I brought it up.”  
Lapis inhaled deeply and let out a sigh.  
“Freckles...that feeling of uncertainty you got right now? Picture that times a million. I don’t know what to do with her. Don’t know to just forget about her, to listen to try and hear or out, or just punch her in the face. We had a lot of bad times together but...a lot more time passed since then. I’ve changed from who I used to be, and I’m afraid she hasn’t. I wish I could just swoop up to her and ask her what’s on her mind and just get closure. But I think she has a similar thing going on. At least that’s what I think. There’s gotta be a reason why she just books it when she notices I’ve seen her.” Lapis said  
“Wow...pretty heavy.”  
A beam of light fired off near the front of the house. Freckles crawled to the top of the slanted roof to look over the house. Lapis was oblivious to the sound of the beam, stuck in her own head and shaping and manipulating the water’s form to soothe herself.  
“You said it. Just wish she would just come to me sometimes. Not to fuse, or to get together. Just to talk or something. At least we can finally move on and get back to living our lives without these stupid interruptions.”  
Freckles stared off over the edge of the roof and noticed someone walking down the dirt path from the farm’s warp pad.  
“Say does that Jasper have horns?”  
“Yeah. She got corrupted a while back. I can only imagine that experience. I mean life in the mirror was a nightmare but at least I still had my thoughts. Corruption...it still scares me to think about if I’m being honest. And after all she went through she was--”  
“No I’m asking that cause there’s a jasper with horns coming this way.”  
Lapis’s entire body tensed up, her eyes shot wide open in shock, and the water ring she was manipulating exploded in different directions. She quickly jerked around and looked over with Freckles. To her disbelief, there was Jasper just walking down the road. She looked to be holding something in her arms.  
“What’s she holding?” Freckles asked.  
The sound of bubbling water was heard behind her. She looked over to see the water churning. She then looked at Lapis to see her dire, stressed out expression and then connected the two incidents.  
“No...no she can’t come here. This is...this is my place!” Lapis said to herself.  
Freckles grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look her in the face.  
“Lapis calm down! What was all that talk from before?” Freckles asked.  
“Bluster! I can’t do this!” She admitted.  
“No it’s not! You can do this! Just tell her how you feel or you’ll never be over this!”  
“Can’t I just keep this down? How about you talk to her instead!?” Lapis said.  
Freckles frowned and looked away from her.  
“You’re stronger than this.” Freckles said.  
Lapis could feel Freckle’s disappointment in her. But she understood where it came from. She needed to be a strong example to her, and she couldn’t do that by letting Jasper inadvertently drag her down. She stood up confidently and spread her wings. Freckles looked at her and smiled. Lapis turned her back on her friend and faced the direction Jasper was at.  
“Take off for a bit. I need to do this on my own.” Lapis declared.  
“You can do this!” Freckles said.  
Freckles flew off and Lapis started doing deep breaths to calm herself down. The churning water turned back into a calm pool. She took off and started to flutter towards Jasper. She wouldn’t let her control her ways. She was gonna put her foot down and settle this once and for all.  
Jasper made it to their front yard, walking with Tourmaline in his arms. She held him like a little girl would hold a cat. His arms rested on hers as they walked toward the house. The quartz soldier understood she had a mission, but this was the first time she was ever this close to Lapis’s home. She once followed Lapis home several months before. She was surprised to see that she lived so far away from the city, even more so that she would be with Peridot. She was curious as to why she would be with her. Peridot helped her capture Lapis when she first came to Homeworld, and now they were best friends. Everything just confused her. Her diamond must have had some influence on it. That had to be it. So if it’s superficial, why does she feel jealous of what they have? And why did standing in front of this house make her feel uneasy? She just wanted to drop off Tourmaline and leave. Then things got even worse when Lapis flew right up in her face.  
“No. NO! I can put up with you going to Little Homeworld but you will not invade this place! This is my home and I will not let you just waltz up here like it’s noth-AH!!” Lapis flinched backwards as Tourmaline slashed at her.  
Jasper squeezed tightly around him and did her best to keep him in her grasp. He was still attempting to claw at Lapis and wriggle out of Jasper’s bear hug. Lapis looked at Tourmaline with an intense curiosity. She was so transfixed on Jasper that she completely ignored him.  
“What’s uh...what’s that?” Lapis asked.  
“A fusion! I brought him here to get Peridot to help him. Now are you gonna-gah!” Tourmaline thrust his palm into Jasper’s chin and attempted to push himself away from her, “She’s not with Feldspar so calm down you brat!”  
Lapis landed on the ground and put her hands out in front of her.  
“Okay, okay easy buddy I’m not gonna hurt you. Just had a little fright is all. Everything is okay. I’m not with the creeps, okay?” Lapis said.  
Tourmaline started to calm down and then went limp. Jasper didn’t let him down just in case.  
“Did you say Feldspar? What’s going on?”  
Tourmaline growled at the name.  
“That freak has been playing the crystal gems. Talking about some robot when all she was doing was using them to get this guy back. She put him in some sort of torture suit to keep him fused. You can’t see it right now but he has an aquamarine gem in him. Probably has another gem somewhere else because he doesn’t look like a regular aquamarine.”  
“What the...barely anything you said makes sense. How is this a thing!?”  
“I’m...not...thing…” Tourmaline argued.  
Lapis looked back at him with wide eyes.  
“I managed to tear off some of his suit but I think I’ll end up hurting him worse if I do it more. So I came here to get Peridot to fix this.”  
“You’re...helping someone else? Why?”  
“None of your business. Now get Peridot so I can leave.”  
Lapis crossed her arms, “As much as I would love that, Peridot isn’t here. She’s probably with the crystal gems on Feldspar’s ship.”  
Right on que, the warp pad lit up again. The two gems looked over towards the cornfield that concealed it. The light dispersed and scurrying down the dirt road were Amethyst and Peridot. They were yelling at each other.  
“Remind me again why you ditched the pod!?” Amethyst asked.  
“That thing had to have had some sort of tracking device on it! What ship wouldn’t be able to track it’s own pods!? I had to be careful in case those guys were lying to us!” Peridot explained.  
“Why would they lie to us when they literally let us go you dork!?”  
“I dunno, I'm being careful! Now let’s get Lapis and find Tourmaline before Jasper…” Peridot looked away from Amethyst and looked straight at Jasper, “...Jasper is here.”  
She skidded to a stop, Amethyst jogged to a stop and looked up at Jasper.  
“Sis, what are you--”  
Tourmaline started to shake and growl at Amethyst. Jasper looked down at him and made him look at her by pushing his chin upwards.  
“Also not an enemy. Calm down.” Jasper demanded.  
Tourmaline did as he was told and went back to glaring at them.  
“Jasper, what have you done to that poor gem!?” Peridot asked.  
“This poor gem is called Tourmaline. Now can you fix him?” Jasper asked.  
“Wha? How do you know his name? I thought that was top secret.”  
“I...shouted it...a bit...before.” Tourmaline said.  
Amethyst looked up at him, “Oh hey you’re talking. So uh...sorry about the whole fight thing. You kind of started it though.”  
“Lucky for you we’ll finish it!” Peridot declared as she raised the drive upwards, “This has the secrets to your suit! We’ll get it off you right now!”  
“How’d you get that?” Jasper asked.  
“Feldspar is such a bitch even her troops hate her. We got this from White Topaz and Black Pearl. Had a little assist from a Jet gem too.” Amethyst explained.  
Tourmaline started humming to himself.  
“Friends…” He said aloud.  
Jasper dropped him and he fell to his knees. Peridot and Amethyst grabbed him and helped him up.  
“You could’ve put him down more gently.” Lapis said.  
“He was strong enough to resist me earlier. Thought he would land on his feet.”  
Tourmaline got to his feet and Peridot examined the bits of him that remained.  
“Hmm...not sure if the damage he’s sustained will make this easier or complicate things. But hey, I’m a clever gem. We’ll figure this out.” Peridot stated.  
“Good. Then less talking and more fixing. I’m going back to the woods.” Jasper said as she started walking away.  
Tourmaline looked her way along with the rest of the gems.  
“Wait! Sis you don’t have to leave we might need--” Amethyst started before getting a shot in the ribs by Peridot.  
“Amethyst!” Peridot whispered, “I understand where you’re coming from but Lapis is still freaked out by her!”  
Amethyst wanted to protest but she understood Lapis’s issues with Jasper. Jasper slowly wandered off and made her way back to where she belonged.  
Lapis looked down at the ground and clenched her fists. She was ready to say so much to Jasper and now she was just dropping off her problems and leaving. She didn’t understand why but she refused to let things end like this. Lapis got herself ready for this fight and she wouldn’t delay it any longer.  
“Jasper, wait!” She yelled out.  
Jasper stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened a little in surprise that Lapis would even say two more words to her, let alone those.  
“Things could turn bad if you leave. Tourmaline clearly trusts you and...we might need you if Feldspar shows up. So...just stay until he’s fixed.” Lapis said.  
Jasper turned around all the way. She was perplexed by what she said. She wanted her to stick around? It might just be for Tourmaline but why would she care about him? He had all the help he needed and now this? It was so confusing to her.  
Jasper’s confusion was nothing compared to Peridot’s shock at Lapis’s statement. She just gawked at her friend, her jaw slack.  
“Lapis...are you sure--”  
“I am.” Lapis answered.  
Jasper started walking back and walked up to Lapis. Lapis kept staring her in the face. Her eyes were stern and strong. It reminded her of when she offered her hand to Jasper all those years ago. She walked past her and moved over to the porch. She sat on the deck’s edge and looked off in the distance.  
“Whatever.” She said.  
Lapis continued to look at her. Peridot and Amethyst were looking at Lapis. Peridot couldn’t help but feel proud of her friend. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but could tell that Lapis was taking a stance for herself. Then a loud groan brought her back to reality. She looked back to see Tourmaline clawing at a piece of metal stuck in him.  
“Tourmaline don’t pick at that! I’ll take care of it, just follow me!” Peridot grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him towards her garage. Amethyst followed her but stopped near Jasper. She looked up at her, Jasper still staring off at nothing.  
“Thanks for this sis.”  
“Whatever.” Jasper said.  
Amethyst walked into the garage. Now, despite the three of them only being in the garage ten feet away, the two of them were finally alone. Lapis could say what she wanted to say to Jasper. But now seeing her do something altruistic, talking to others with no sense of arrogance, and now sitting calmly and waiting...it was all too surreal to her. Lapis’s memories of Jasper all conflicted with this one moment. So she did what her body allowed her to do. She walked over to the porch and sat on the opposite side of the deck. She looked off her own way. She was expecting her next reunion with Jasper to be nothing but yelling and old wounds opening up. But instead, it was calm. Just her being there, with nothing else going on. She would say what she wanted to say to her eventually. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

/**/

The sun was beginning to set over the wasteland. Time was running out for Feldspar. If she didn’t get Tourmaline back quickly all of her efforts would’ve been for nothing. She continued to look through her screens, each feed not displaying her prize. Her talk with her associate ended a few minutes ago and now all she could do was sit impatiently and hope that one of the crystal gems would pick up their transceivers. They were her only hope to at least delay the inevitable. At last she was able to get a connected call and it was time for her acting skills to shine again.  
“That you Feldspar?” Bismuth asked.  
“Finally you answer me! What took you so long?” Feldspar shouted.  
“You never told us how these things worked. These things aren’t exactly the most user friendly you know?” Bismuth stated.  
Feldspar rolled her eyes, “Duly noted. Now then, I know where Tourmaline is located. According to one of my drones, he was last seen with a Jasper. She took him to a warp pad to Peridot’s house. I’m assuming it's your Peridot’s house.”  
“A Jasper? It’s probably her.” It sounded like she was talking with someone else, “She was already fighting him before all this so it’s gotta be her.”  
“Still here. Also would like to note that she clobbered Garnet when she attempted to retrieve him.” Feldspar stated.  
“Say what!? That’s...oh what is going on through that gem’s head! Alright we’re on our way!” Bismuth shouted.  
Feldspar turned off her receiving end, muting her own audio. But she was still able to hear Bismuth and Pearl talking about Garnet and Jasper. It sounded like Pearl was talking with Steven and Bismuth was attempting to contact Peridot and Amethyst to no avail. Good. That paranoia will help weaken Jasper’s character further. Black Pearl appeared successful in capturing the two of them. Less she needed to worry about. But she still couldn’t help but repetitively tapped her finger on her desk. She wouldn’t be at ease until every single potential snag in her plan was mended. Her concentration was broken by the sound of her door opening. She jolted up in her seat and looked straight at the door to her associate holding a bubble containing Ruby and Sapphire’s gems. She gently pushed the bubble into her office.  
“Here’s your present. Felt like a waste to just shatter her.” The mysterious gem said.  
“Is this it? Eh...I can work with that. Now then...your assignment is to track the signals of the crystal gem’s transceivers and clean things up if things go ugly. Observe them from a distance and then go in at my signal. Shatter the others if needed but you must capture your targets. This will be your best opportunity to do this. I’d give you more back up but too many ships flying to a location near Little Homeworld may draw the attention of other gems. If we’re discovered by them it’s all over. We don’t have the power to fight an entire city of gems.” Feldspar explained.  
“Gotcha. Slip in quickly and get them fast. They’re far enough away from the city though right? Won’t get in trouble in case I need to use the toy you gave me.” The associate said.  
“Of course. Now get out of here. You’re wasting time. I can hear them on the move already.” Feldspar said.  
The mysterious gem turned around and was about to close the door. She knew time was working against her but when she entered the ship she noticed something off. It was minor, but it was nagging at her.  
“Oh and Feldspar? Have you deployed every ship you got here?” She asked.  
“No the escape pods are still in their bays. Why are you asking when you should be going?” Feldspar spat.  
“One’s missing. Just wanted to let you know.” With that the mystery gem closed the door and left.  
Feldspar stared off into space and shook her head. One pod missing? What a joke. There was no way one could’ve gone missing under her watch. But just to be certain she opened up the security feed for the hangar bay. She frowned when she noticed an empty space in between the other escape pods.  
She immediately pressed a couple buttons on her command center and opened up multiple audio control centers for White Topaz, Black Pearl, Stibnite, Pyromorphite, Cerussite, Jet, and Stibnite. The only one to answer her call was Stibnite.  
“Yes miss Feldspar?” She answered.  
“Do you have any knowledge of an escape pod leaving without my say so?!” Feldspar yelled.  
“Can’t say that I do. I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to apprehend whoever disobeyed directives.” Stibnite said.  
“Don’t bother. I’ll take care of this.” Feldspar said, ending the call.  
She then opened up an option screen for each of the gems that refused to answer her. Each one had the phrase “Activate Corrective Programing” with a checkmark and x underneath. She then tapped each checkmark and sat back in her seat.  
“I give you all the benefit of the doubt. We all had our own reasons for my cause. And you betray my trust for an insignificant little experiment. I should’ve done this long ago. Why negotiate and reason when you can simply decide?” She said to herself, “Now only Stibnite will be able to see my vision realized.”  
She waited eagerly as she saw each screen display progress of the Corrective Programming activating in each gem. A red light began to engulf each gem’s profile picture. Each one was about to complete their start up process, but then each one displayed an error message. The message read “Error. No host to link to.”. Feldspar’s eyes widened and her sinister smile jerked to a look of shock.  
“...what?” She read the same message on each screen, “What….WHAT!?!”  
Feldspar grit her teeth as she looked through each of her screens to find the gems. She seethed and growled to herself. Her teeth were about to crack with how hard she clenched them. Her worries and calm demeanor were replaced with absolute rage. She slammed her fists onto her console and let out a guttural shout.  
“THOSE UNGRATEFUL BACKSTABBING RATS!!!” She screamed, “I’LL KILL ALL OF THEM!!”  
Feldspar’s tantrum was eavesdropped by her traitorous crew. Barring Stibnite, all of the active gems that served under her had signed off by removing the transceivers that were once embedded in them. Freshly removed, a transceiver sparked and glowed with an unnatural red light. It dangled by a thread made by Black Pearl. She tossed it into the corner with the other activated transceivers. The six of them were planning on removing them anyway, but they weren’t expecting Feldspar to find them out so quickly. Meticulous planning was now on shaky ground. Pyromorphite rubbed the glowing spot in her forearm where the transceiver once planted itself. Black Pearl barely managed to remove it in time.  
“Well it seems like the jig is up.” White Topaz declared.  
“Yeah no crap.” Pyromorphite responded, “Thought you said your plan was flawless. Should’ve let Cerry plan this out.”  
“Pyro don’t be like that. White Topaz knows Feldspar better than any of us. We all had our role to play and we did it the best we could.” Cerussite argued.  
“We don’t have time to talk like this. We need to get in a pod and get out of here.” Black Pearl said.  
“And do what? Get blasted out of the sky? No way.” Jet said.  
“Yeah she’s got eyes on the hangar bay now. We can’t just waltz out of here anymore.” White Topaz said.  
Black Pearl scowled, “We can’t make it to the others in time!”  
“Mhm. We just need to hope that the remaining gems can survive. And if Tourmaline is free.” White Topaz said.  
“Oh of course, cause if he’s out of his suit he’ll just solve all our problems.” Pyromorphite stated.  
“Pyro!” Cerussite smacked Pyromorphite’s shoulder, “You know how important he is to everyone here! And that this is more than just him at stake!”  
“Yeah you’re right. Sorry I’m just worried about you.” Pyro turned back to White Topaz, “We’re in this too deep now anyway. I’m sticking with you, jackass.”  
“Good. Now last check. Cerussite, did you complete the device?” White Topaz asked.  
Cerussite nodded and revealed a bag she kept hidden under her skirt. In the bag was a small sphere that glowed blue. Black Pearl raised an eyebrow at the small device.  
“All this time and this is all you got?” She asked.  
“I had to be very discreet about this to avoid Feldspar asking any questions. I also needed to make it small enough that I could hide it.” Cerussite explained, “And I couldn’t have just put it in your gem that would’ve been easy for her to notice.”  
“Cerussite! Does. It. Work?” White Topaz asked.  
“The radius of effect is pretty small, but it works. We’ll need to get them all at once.” She said.  
“Alright. Not ideal but that’s doable. Now then...how do we get out of here. It’s only a matter of time before the grunts find this place. Or Stibnite.” White Topaz said.  
“I still can’t believe she refused to join us.” Pyromorphite said.  
“Or rat us out.” Cerussite added.  
“It doesn’t matter now. Do you have a way to track the transceivers too?” Black Pearl asked Cerussite.  
She nodded in response.  
“Thanks for bringing that up. Almost slipped my mind. Now how do we leave here again?” White Topaz asked.  
Black Pearl looked behind White Topaz to notice Jet was cutting a circle into the wall behind him. The circle was complete and she pulled out her sword. It was a longsword with a black blade and several gray studs down the base of the blade. The gray guard curved like horns and pointed upwards. Where the base of the blade and guard connected was the top of a skull with black eyes embedded, and the rows of straight gray teeth faded into the black blade. The grip was dark blue and the pommel was a faded black wood. From the blade and skull leaked a gray fluid that gave off a gray smoke. The droplets burned holes into the floor, and the circle she cut into the hull of the ship was lined with the acid.  
“While you were all talking I decided this was our best bet to leave. We can survive a drop this high right?” Jet said.  
Black Pearl pushed her aside and formed her spider limbs. She shoved them into the chunk of wall at various points in a hexagonal pattern. The points bent and wrapped around the chunk of metal and she started to pull back. As it slowly came out she also grabbed it with her hands. Jet helped her pull it out, pushing along the side of the chunk of metal, fiberglass and wire. White Topaz picked up Pyromorphite princess style.  
“What are you doing?” Pyromorphite asked.  
“I can land on both feet, you can’t. Just deal with it til I hit the ground, okay?” White Topaz said.  
“Can one of you carry me too?” Cerussite asked.  
The two gems managed to pull out the thick chunk of the ship and it opened up to the open night sky. Black Pearl turned to Cerussite and grabbed her with her limbs. They wrapped around her completely and she wore Cerussite like a backpack. The blue gem still clung onto the bag tightly and she got ready for her descent. White Topaz led the charge and looked back to the gems.  
“Once we jump out, our lives here are over. Are you all ready for that?” White Topaz asked.  
Each of them nodded, though Jet was hesitant at first. White Topaz leapt out of the ship first. Jet stared down at the drop and Black Pearl looked at her face. Jet looked uncertain and scared. Black Pearl touched her shoulder and she looked at her face.  
“Everything will be fine after this. We’ll make sure of it.” Black Pearl promised.  
Jet struggled to smile for Black Pearl, but she managed to do so for her. Black Pearl smiled back at her and leapt off after White Topaz. Jet continued to look down at the rest of them. She looked back and wondered if this was the right choice. She wasn’t sure what would happen to her, let alone everyone else. She thought about life before Tourmaline and life before Feldspar found her. She had a bad feeling about each possible outcome, but she had no choice now but to trust her friends and pray that she will be okay in the end. And the first step to that was taken with a leap of faith out of the ship.  
/**/  
Some time had passed in the barn and progress for Tourmaline’s revival was going slowly. Held in stocks meant to hold homeworld ships up, he thrashed and wriggled around them. Even though the process was supposed to help him, he still found himself unconsciously fighting against the process. Peridot and Amethyst were trying to handle him like a veterinarian would handle a misbehaving puppy refusing to take a shot. Amethyst was holding his legs still and Peridot was multitasking by reading the schematics given to her and using her metal powers to delicately remove the locks around the suit.  
“Bro! Can you not!? This is annoying as is!” Amethyst complained.  
“Can’t help...stupid suit...sucks!” He responded.  
“Alrighty, this might help you be a bit more cooperative.” Peridot said as she removed the two locks.  
The shin guards floated in the air and revealed two large slabs of light green refined gem. A few specks of black decorated the body of the gems. Amethyst lifted herself up and looked at the two of them. They covered the length and width of his shins. They were rectangular and ended in a sharp tip just before they reached his knee joints.  
“So these are new jade stones huh? They look neat.” Amethyst said.  
“They are. I haven’t seen a new jade either.” Peridot stated.  
“Really? Thought you’d have more experience with them in Homeworld.”  
“That’s the thing. They were discontinued long before I came into the picture. They used to be batteries, since they could store and release tons of energy. But as technology progressed they were considered obsolete and…”  
Peridot looked over to see Amethyst’s judgemental stare. The little einstein of a gem realized she was touching on some old ugliness.  
“Uh...don’t worry about it. How are you holding up Tourmaline?” She asked.  
“Meh.” Tourmaline’s voice became slightly clearer. Parts of his face were starting to reform over the blank light that made up his head.  
“Oh wow you sound almost normal. Sound kind of hot too.” Amethyst said.  
“Thanks. Can you please get the rest of this junk off me?” Tourmaline asked.  
“And complete sentences! We’re almost done!” Peridot declared, “Now let’s just get that big pack off your back and we can just yank off the rest of the stuff on you.”  
Amethyst dropped down and grabbed the chunk of metal on Tourmaline’s back.  
“It was really that simple?” Amethyst asked.  
“Well the membrane suit underneath the metal exterior was going to be a pain. The helmet was going to be worse. But since Jasper messed them all up so much they’re pretty much dead. They’re just stuck on him.”  
“Still here.” Tourmaline said.  
“Right. Let’s get this done with.” Peridot said.  
Outside of the garage Lapis and Jasper were still sitting in silence. The two of them would throw glances at one another if they weren’t looking but they refused to speak. The temptation to simply walk back to the backyard was with Lapis for the last hour, but she’s worried that any motion will trigger a response from Jasper. She looked at Jasper once again and their eyes locked. The large quartz’s expression was as neutral as it could be. Lapis felt a twinge run up her spine, but she didn’t break her gaze. If she did, she would be giving Jasper power over her again. And she didn’t want that. It’s time for her to do what she promised Freckles.  
“So what made you bring Tourmaline here?” Lapis asked.  
Jasper shrugged.  
“It’s not like you to go out of your way to help other people. There has to be a reason.” Lapis said.  
“I don’t know, alright!? That suit is terrible, even if it’s stuck on a stupid fusion! That good enough for you!?” Jasper yelled.  
Lapis grimaced, “Well thanks for letting me know you haven’t changed, you clod!”  
Jasper recoiled at that comment, “Clod!? When did you get the stones to talk to me like that!?”  
“Oh I dunno maybe after I moved on with my life instead of deciding to live like a stubborn hermit!”  
Jasper got to her feet and loomed over Lapis.  
“I live by my real ideals! I don’t have to give into your stupid little pacifistic lifestyle just because my diamond told you to! He shattered me and proved himself to be stronger. That’s why I listen to him. You only listen to him because you can’t do anything by yourself!”  
Lapis shot up to her feet and got in Jasper’s scowling face.  
“It’s called having friends! Maybe you’d make some if you could pull your head out of your ass!”  
“HEY!!” Amethyst screamed.  
The two of them looked at the garage and saw the little gem glaring at them. The two were shocked by how loud she yelled.  
“We’re doing something really delicate right now! So one of you walk away, or both of you zip it!” She demanded.  
Amethyst then went back into the garage. Jasper scoffed and planted her butt down. Lapis remained standing and glared at her. She knew an argument would have been inevitable, but she didn’t expect it to be instant. Maybe her comment about Jasper’s character agitated her? She started to ease up as she looked at her. That comment about Jasper not having friends resonated with her too. She thought about all of her emotional baggage and trauma she had to endure on her own, and how much she needed her friends to help her get through it. Jasper never had that. She and Jasper’s time as Malachite was equally as exhausting and terrible. It left different scars than her own, but Jasper came out scarred nonetheless. And then she got corrupted. And then years after living alone, she ends up getting shattered by Steven. She did her best to not think about her at all, but when she pieced everything together Jasper has gone through some really intense times. All of it bottled up too.  
“Just go away. If you just want to shout at me we can do it another time.” Jasper demanded.  
Lapis’s scowl eased up and she looked more sympathetically at her.  
“Why do you wander by Little Homeworld so much?” Lapis asked.  
Jasper’s eyes widened and she looked back at Lapis. Jasper was expecting to be confronted on that by one of the gems but she didn’t expect it to be her. Let alone in that tone. Jasper looked away.  
“Just making sure things are fine there. For my diamond.” Jasper said.  
“You know Steven doesn’t like to be called that.”  
“He earned that right when he beat me.”  
Lapis sat down closer to Jasper. Jasper glanced at her and then looked back to the horizon. For some reason making eye contact with Lapis bothered her.  
“He doesn’t want that. He never did.”  
“I’m...acknowledging him. That’s all.”  
“Acknowledging him for what? That strength scared him. Do you even know that he was corrupted over what he did to you?”  
Jasper was silent. Lapis felt like she hit a really tender part. It was best to drop that topic and go back to the original.  
“Nevermind that. Sorry. Let’s get back to--”  
“I want to make it up to him.” Jasper admitted.  
Lapis looked up to her.  
“I continuously failed him as a soldier and I almost cost him everything. I wanted him to adopt my creed and be able to shake off all those insecurities of his. But...I guess that isn’t a healthy way to be.” Jasper said.  
“So you’re hoping to punch a problem if it happens to come by?” Lapis asked.  
Jasper shrugged again.  
“Okay so...why do you always turn tail when you see that I’ve noticed you?”  
Jasper tensed up. She didn’t want to answer. She didn’t even understand herself.  
“Jasper...I don’t want you--”  
A beam of light shot out from the distance and Jasper shot up to her feet. Lapis turned to the dirt path and saw Steven, Bismuth, and Pearl charge towards them. Pearl and Bismuth were angry and Steven looked sorrowful.  
“You! What have you done to Garnet!?” Pearl demanded.  
Lapis looked at Jasper in disbelief. She attacked Garnet? For what reason?  
“I didn’t do anything to her! Tourmaline stabbed her and I took him here before things got worse.”  
“Liar! You messed her up and took Tourmaline for yourself!” Bismuth shouted.  
“Jasper, why would you think I would want any of this?!” Steven said.  
Jasper looked hurt by Steven’s words. Lapis was about to join in when Amethyst rushed out of the garage and got in between the group and Jasper. Pearl looked down at her with a determined stare.  
“Amethyst! Move! She attacked Garnet, she’s trying to--”  
“Help Tourmaline! Me and Peridot are fixing him right now! I don’t know what went down between Jasper and Garnet but she didn’t clobber her! It had to have been Feldspar!”  
“I...I fought Garnet because she was going to take him back to Feldspar for repairs. He didn’t want that so I got in the way. Tourmaline interfered and stabbed Garnet but I grabbed him before he could do any more damage. She was still in her form when I left.” Jasper admitted.  
Pearl and Bismuth started to ease up. They were all confused.  
“Then why would Feldspar tell us all this?” Steven asked.  
“And how did she know about Garnet if you left her there?” Bismuth asked.  
“Guys Feldspar is a freak. She’s trying to do something bad and we need to get her before something bad happens.”  
“Woah Amethyst we can’t go that far. How do you know that--”  
The transceivers on the other gems began to blink red and make a beeping noise. Pearl pulled hers out and looked at it.  
“Feldspar must be contacting us. We can ask her about this accusation right now.” Pearl said.  
Amethyst’s eyes widened and she summoned her whip. The transceiver was about to initiate its true intention. She cracked it towards Pearl’s hand. The whip was about to touch the device but it sunk into Pearl’s hand. The whip strike knocked Pearl’s hand away but it was too late. Pearl was about to yell at Amethyst when she felt an intense pain radiate from her hand. Red cracks began to form around the entry wound and spread all throughout her arm. Bismuth rushed over to her side but her device began to burrow itself into her abdomen. Similar red cracks formed on her. Steven turned to help but he groaned in pain when his transceiver drilled into his hip. The red cracks were also forming on him.  
“My diamond!” Jasper yelled as she ran to Steven’s side.  
Amethyst went to Pearl and Lapis rushed to Bismuth. Peridot peeked outside and saw the chaos going on. She looked back to Tourmaline. She managed to get the outer shell of the suit off, but there still was a mass of metal and circuits surrounding his gem. No doubt the source of the suit’s power. It could wait. She had to check on her friends.  
Pearl and Bismuth stopped groaning in pain and the red cracks on their bodies dissipated almost instantly. The same couldn’t be said for Steven, who Jasper was holding close to her. She looked down at him with a worried expression. Amethyst and Lapis were looking at Bismuth and Pearl respectively. Pearl opened her eyes and glared down at Amethyst. The whites of her eyes were now a dark red.  
“P?” Amethyst said.  
Pearl raised her spear high and swung it at Amethyst’s face. The small quartz was barely able to dodge with her head intact. A large gash in her cheek was left from the failed strike.  
Lapis looked over in shock at the sudden attack. She looked back to see a giant axeblade ready to swing down onto her. Bismuth’s eyes were the same as Pearl’s and she was also ready to go in for the kill. Bismuth brought down her morphed hand and a great plume of dust and dirt erupted from the impact of her strike. She looked to the side to see Lapis’s gem, but found all of Lapis and Peridot instead. The green gem managed to run in and tackle Lapis out of the way before she was cut in two. Bismuth was about to attack again but Peridot used her metal kinesis to push Bismuth down. She scrambled off of Lapis and the two of them backed off from the large gem as she got back up. Amethyst and Peridot grouped around Jasper and looked at Steven. He was sweating and the red cracks didn’t leave him.  
“Steven! Are you still with us man? Please talk!” Amethyst begged.  
“Its...burning inside me! Pearl, Bismuth...what’s wrong with you two!?” He shouted.  
The two gems glared at him as they got ready to attack again. They looked up to see a giant hand made of water loom over the house. Lapis was going to end this quickly and subdue them before they could hurt them or themselves. She was about to strike but the hand was blasted apart by several green blasts of energy. The hand dissipated and splashed all over the house and surrounding ground. Lapis stared up in disbelief at the sudden strike. The others looked up at the source of the blasts. A ship shaped like a sleek, featureless horseshoe crab floated above them. The cockpit of the ship opened up and a gem leapt down from it. She landed in between Pearl and Bismuth. The lights from her ship turned on and illuminated her.  
She was a bit taller than Pearl but shorter than Bismuth. Her skin was seafoam green and her right eye’s pupil was pink while the iris was a deep red. Where her left eye would’ve been was her gemstone. It was shaped like a sideways rhombus and was a mix of purples, magentas, pinks and greens. Around her eye were dark green and magenta freckles. Her hair was tied into three thick lengths. Two tails that reached her chest rested in front of her and the back was a much thicker tail that reached her lower back. They were bound by magenta and pink bands, the main color of her hair dark blue with pink streaks that flowed down in even stripes straight down each length of hair to their pointed ends. Said stripes came from her front patch of evenly parted hair. Her figure was fairly voluptuous and incredibly toned. Her outfit was three pieces: A crop top that covered the top half of her torso, a matching bottom and large baggy chaps. It could’ve been equated to a swimsuit if it weren’t for the chaps. The top completely covered all of her upper torso, save her shoulders. It was dark gray with thin vertical black lines, the top of it turning into a dark pink choker that covered her whole neck. The base of the top was lined with a matching ring. Her midriff was exposed. Her chaps were held up by a dark pink belt. They were the same color and pattern as the top. Her thighs were exposed but the chaps covered the rest of her legs. They were a dark eggplant purple with a single pink stripe flowing down the side of each leg. They cut off at the knee with dark pink rings. Her forearms and shins were decorated with pink and magenta rings; four for her forearms and three for her shins. She was also barefoot.  
She had an unnerving but calm smile on her face. She eyed the crystal gems like a serial killer who had just tricked an unsuspecting victim into their car. Jasper grit her teeth and Peridot stared in fear. Amethyst and Lapis were glaring at her and ready to fight. Steven was still confused and hurt as he looked at her, the pain of the transceiver refusing to let up.  
“Hi! What ya got going on here?” She asked.  
Jasper held Steven closer. She recognized her from her time in the war. She knew how dangerous she was.  
“Having a camping trip? Singing about your little inane lives? No? Well how about I leave you to it then? I just need to reclaim something that belongs to Feldspar. Is about my height, screams a lot, refuses to do what he’s told. Ring any bells?” She started to get visibly annoyed by their silence, “Mind actually talking?”  
“The hell do you want!? What did you do to Pearl and Bismuth?” Amethyst shouted.  
She shook her head, “No no no, that’s not how this works. I ask the questions.”  
“How about an ultimatum instead?” Jasper threatened, “Leave this place or I’ll make you leave.”  
The green gem giggled to herself, “Look at the big bad quartz. Doing her best to be intimidating while cradling her widdle baby in her arms.”  
“Jasper, please...I don’t want you to have to fight.” Steven begged.  
“Oh but I do. Believe me I do. But I have a job to do first so...gimmie.” The green gem demanded.  
Peridot was cowering behind Amethyst. Amethyst looked over to her with a confused look.  
“Peridot, why you wussing out? You yelled at Yellow Diamond how many times and now you’re freaking out about this chick? She’s a pipsqueak.” She asked.  
“Because that gem is a bonafide psycho!” Peridot whispered.  
“Oh lookie there!” The gem’s attention was turned to Peridot, “I have a fan here after all.”  
Peridot flinched and hid behind Amethyst as much as she could when she was called out.  
“Go on cutie. Tell them who I am. If you're stuck I can give you a hint.”  
“She’s Zoi--”  
“Zoisite yes. Not a zoisite, THE zoisite. No one else can compare. Greatest assassin in all of Homeworld. Know how I got that title? By shattering little pissants like you.”  
“Assassin...but...it’s peaceful now there’s no need to--”  
“Shhhh, I was getting to that part, Steven. Oh I was hoping that I could catch you like this one day.”  
“If my mom did something to you I’m sorry but--”  
“Shut up you preachy little snot! I don’t care about your mommy I care about you. In fact, I liked your mom. She gave me a war. You know how great war is for a gem like me? So many opportunities to indulge in my purpose. Oh I had a great time serving the diamonds then. Think I even took a few shots at your mama at some point. But…” She grabbed Pearl’s face, clasping her fingers and thumb around her cheeks and chin, then gently rocked it back and forth, “...this little pest kept playing hero and screwing up my attempts.”  
Pearl was oblivious to the mockery but Amethyst was gritting her teeth at the display. She was tempted to strike her right there but was worried she’d hit Pearl. Zoisite let go of her and continued on.  
“I think I even worked with that has-been a couple of times.” Zoisite pointed to Jasper, “That was back before she decided to follow a goody two shoes like...oh look at me, I’m rambling again. Sorry! Let me slim it down to the bullet points. I liked what I did. I lived for what I did. And you took it away from me with a few songs and a sob story. Now, you’re going to make sure I get that life back. One way or another.”  
“Get your delusional ass out of here before I shatter you.” Jasper growled.  
A bright flash came from her eye and Jasper instinctively raised her hand in front of Steven’s face. She let out a yelp of pain as a pink needle impaled the palm of her hand. Steven looked up at Jasper’s pissed off expression then back to Zoisite’s sadistic smile.  
“All that time in the woods rot your brain Jasper? I think you’re forgetting what kind of body count I have. You’re out of your league.”  
“You don’t know a thing about me.” Jasper said as she pulled the needle out of her hand.  
“Ha! What’s to know!? You’re just a quartz dipshit! A no good has-been playing puppy for a pacifistic mama’s boy. Also, it’s four on four right now and you got a little burden you need to worry about too.” Zoisite said.  
Amethyst got ready to fight, same with the other gems. Peridot regained her courage and stood beside Amethyst. She knew how scary Zoisite was, but she wasn’t going to turn her back on any of her friends.  
“It’s actually four on three. Just cause you blasted some of my water doesn’t mean it’s all gone.” Lapis said.  
“Oh I know. That’s why I got that for you.” Zoisite pointed back at her ship.  
The ship turned and faced Lapis. It was completely empty but able to operate on its own.  
“Lovely present courtesy of Feldspar.” Zoisite said.  
She continued to smile at the other gems and then her eyes trailed off to the barn. She noticed a moving shadow. She looked over to see Tourmaline swinging and thrashing to get free from his bonds. Zoisite’s stern expression returned to her gleeful ear to ear grin.  
“Well I’ll be! You may as well have put a bow on him too! Now if you’ll just stand aside, I’ll be taking him. Oh. And I’ll be taking Steven too. As an additional fee for wasting my time.” Zoisite demanded.  
“We’re just gonna kick your ass and get our friends back.” Amethyst said.  
“Short stuff…” Zoisite’s eye glowed again and she summoned a stack of the needles. She quickly snatched them out of the air and she held them all in between her fingers, “That was really stupid.”  
Zoisite whipped her hand horizontally, letting each needle slip from her fingers towards their intended targets. The gems dodged out of the way of the strike but were split up. Bismuth charged Amethyst, Peridot was attacked by Pearl, and Jasper was fighting Zoisite. Lapis grew her water wings but was quickly shot at by the ship. She dodged the first shot and flew up to the sky. The ship followed her and continued firing at her. The blue gem knew she had to draw its attention away from the others. A stray shot could kill Steven, and he was in no condition to use his shield.  
Peridot ran away from Pearl’s spear strikes, using her metal powers to pull out scraps of metal from Tourmaline’s suit to come protect her. She used the scrap as a shield to avoid being slashed into pieces. Pearl gracefully leapt around the shield but Peridot kept rolling and leaping behind it. She was hoping to find some sort of way to counterattack but Pearl’s relentless assault was too great. She could only defend and dodge her attacks.  
Amethyst was rolling around Bismuth’s strikes. The giant gem turned her fists into hammers and attempted to pound her former friend into dust. She attempted to catch Amethyst off guard with a sweeping strike but the resourceful gem rolled to the side, sliding under her arm and wrapping her whip around it. Using all her strength she managed to swing the giant gem into the cornfield. Bismuth was barely above the ground but the force was enough to send her rolling into the field and away from Amethyst. That throw wasn’t intended to hurt her but to get her away. She knew she couldn’t hope to snap Bismuth out of her brainwashed state right away. They didn’t have the time for it, as shown by Jasper’s struggle.  
Jasper slashed and kicked at Zoisite but she effortlessly danced around the mighty quartzes strikes. She dodged her right hook and countered by sticking another needle into her bicep. She was about to strike Steven with another needle but Jasper turned and took the blow to her ribs instead. The pain was nothing. She wouldn’t let the freak hurt Steven any more than she has already. Steven meanwhile was still struggling with the pain the device was causing. It felt like his skin was burning and there was a loud shrieking noise in his head. Despite all that he still struggled to summon his shield. He wanted to defend Jasper and he couldn’t unless he could get his shield up.  
“What’s wrong big girl? Thought you were the best of the best?” Zoisite taunted.  
Jasper merely growled and struck back with a sweeping claw. Zoisite rolled under the strike and in between her legs. As she rolled she pulled out another needle from her gem. She stopped on one knee, swung the needle quickly behind her and plunged it in the back of Jasper’s knee. Jasper growled in pain and fell to one knee herself.  
“Jasper!” Steven yelled.  
“It’s nothing!” She growled back.  
“How about this then?” Zoisite said.  
She was about to plunge another needle into the back of Jasper’s neck. She thrust downwards but Jasper rolled to the side evading the strike. Zoisite turned her fist so the needle was horizontal and swung it towards Jasper’s head only for it to be blocked by Jasper’s helmet. Her roll allowed her to pivot and face Zoisite. As the needle bounded off her helmet the quartz punched straight forward into Zoisite’s chest. She flew back and hit one of the deck’s posts, splintering it and nearly cracking it in two. Zoisite laughed out loud and stared with mad glee at Jasper.  
“And here I thought this would be a cakewalk.” Zoisite shouted.  
Jasper continued glared at her and stayed on alert. She couldn’t risk going on the offensive and getting Steven hurt.  
Meanwhile Peridot was still attempting to defend against Pearl.  
“Pearl, come on! I know you're stronger than this! Fight back! Don’t let that clod control you!” Peridot begged.  
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. She was about to strike again when Amethyst rolled into her, knocking her away. Peridot put her shield aside and gazed at Amethyst.  
“We need to go Peri!” Amethyst stated.  
“Don’t have to tell me twice! But you gotta get Tourmaline out of here too! Just undo his restraints he should be able to move on his own now!” Peridot said.  
Bismuth came running out of the cornfield, her hammers now half moon blades. Peridot stared her down.  
“I got this.” Peridot said.  
Amethyst nodded and rushed into the garage where Tourmaline was struggling. She looked around for the control panel to release the iron grips but Pearl was already inside the garage and attacking her.  
“Come on Pearl I’m trying to work here!” Amethyst whined.  
Pearl slashed at Amethyst and she managed to dodge the strike. Amethyst attempted to swing her whip at Pearl but the tight space of the cluttered garage was a poor spot for her to fight. Pearl grabbed a table by its leg and lifted it up to block the whip strike. She then tossed it as Amethyst and rushed in to attempt to attack her while she was distracted. Amethyst leapt into the air and landed on Tourmaline. Pearl was about to cut her in two when Amethyst suddenly vanished. Pearl looked at the spot to see Amethyst as a tiny cat. As Amethyst reverted back to her regular form she tumbled off Tourmaline. The strike missed her but Pearl managed to cut one of the chains that held up one of his legs, making his entire frame slant down slightly. Amethyst looked up at Pearl and she was ready to strike again. Amethyst looked up at her with a sad expression.  
“Pearl...please. Wake up. You know you don’t want to do this.” Amethyst said.  
Pearl’s hands began to shake though her body stayed in the same position. Somewhere deep inside Pearl was fighting back against the signals being sent into her mind. Amethyst got to her feet and was ready to dodge again just in case, but the two of them were snapped out of their stand off by the sound of shattering metal. Pearl looked behind her and Amethyst looked in the same direction to see that Tourmaline managed to kick his other ankle bracelet. The two bracelets snapped and released his legs. He got to his feet and then pulled straight forward. He ripped the chains from the ceiling and threw them towards Pearl. The chains slammed into Pearl and Pearl stumbled back. He then slammed the two binds on his wrists together and they shattered. He walked forward and glared down at Pearl. Amethyst looked on in awe but quickly snapped to Tourmaline’s side.  
“Easy man she’s a friend! Don’t hurt her.” Amethyst demanded.  
Outside of the house, Peridot was using her metal powers to hold Bismuth back. The massive gem struggled against the invisible force being placed on her. Bismuth managed to lift one foot up and was struggling to take a step towards Peridot. She was thinking about pelting her with scrap metal but dividing her attention might cause Bismuth to power through and end her. She wanted Amethyst to come in with another assist. Instead, she got Pearl flying out of the barn at great speed, screaming all the way into Bismuth. She collided with the huge gem and managed to knock her down. Peridot stared at them, confused by the sudden action. Amethyst couldn’t have shot Pearl out of the barn like a bullet. The only possible conclusion was that Tourmaline got free and did it himself.  
Back in the barn, Tourmaline lowered his leg down. To respect Amethyst’s wish, he merely kicked Pearl as hard as he could away from them. Amethyst stared, flabbergasted by the attack. She kept her eyes on the both of them but it felt like one moment he was standing still and the next he had already sent Pearl flying. It was if she blinked and missed it even though her eyes were wide open.  
“Uh...nice one dude.”  
Tourmaline then started to hold his head in his hands and groan in pain. The machine was still trying to worm its way into his mind. It was on its last legs but it was still hurting him. He needed to go before he made things worse.  
“Run...run away from here! I’ll find you later...trust me!” Tourmaline said to Amethyst.  
“What!? Tourmaline they’re right here and after you! You’re better with us now!”  
“Just trust me!” Tourmaline shouted.  
Meanwhile, Jasper had two needles deep in her bicep. She held it firmly, shielding Steven from Zoisite. Zoisite on the other hand was straining against the force of Jasper’s arm, trying to pry it out of the way so she could attack Steven. Or at least feign an attack to make Jasper slip up. She was able to trick the others earlier with that little stunt. She couldn’t shoot the needles out of her eye but was able to use sleight of hand to make it appear like she could.  
“That’s right big girl. Struggle all you want. One wrong move and you’re dust. Then little Steven and I can--” She thought to herself.  
The sound of splintering wood could be heard behind them. Tourmaline charged out of the barn and stumbled to his knees. He looked back at Zoisite and she looked back at him in disbelief. In the next second he got to his feet and zoomed off in the blink of an eye. Zoisite grit her teeth and glared at Jasper.  
“Your little games let my target run away! I don’t return empty handed so let go of the meatbag before I--” Zoisite let out a loud cry of pain as she flew out of Jasper’s line of sight.  
One second Zoisite was in front of her, the next second she was gone, and quickly after that there was the sound of shattering wood and broken glass. Jasper looked to the side to see the front door of the house replaced by a huge hole. She looked down to see Bismuth on top of Zoisite.  
“Get off me you stupid oaf!” Zoisite shouted.  
Peridot and Amethyst were running towards Jasper. Pearl in the distance was still recovering from the kick she took from Tourmaline.  
“Come on Jasper we gotta go!” Amethyst said.  
“Wait what about Lapis!?” Peridot brought up.  
Amethyst looked back and realized that Lapis was still here too. She looked to see Bismuth and Zoisite getting back up. They were about to rush them when a blast came down from above. It destroyed the deck, knocked the crystal gems towards the dirt path, and knocked Bismuth and Zoisite deeper into the house. Peridot looked above to see Lapis diving down towards the backyard. The ship was still shooting at her, and various shots hit the backyard and house. Water began to rise from the house’s sinkhole and Lapis shot a giant fist of water towards herself. She flew towards it with the ship right behind her in her self made game of chicken. At the last possible moment, she dodged to the side and the fist slammed into the ship, knocking it upwards and making it spin around violently. She smirked to herself and looked down at the others. Peridot was waving her down.  
“Lapis come on we gotta go!” Peridot demanded.  
The blue gem dove down and took as much water as she could with her. She looked back to see Zoisite throwing needles at her. She shot some water upwards to deflect the shots but one of them managed to get her in the shoulder. Zoisite then snapped her fingers and the needle burst in her shoulder. Lapis cried out in pain as she tumbled and crashed down towards the warp pad. The needles that were stuck in Jasper’s arm also burst and she almost dropped Steven.  
“Jasper! Let me go I can run on my--”  
“Shut up! It’s nothing!” Jasper yelled.  
The gems continued to run down the road when Jasper let out another cry of pain. The others looked behind to see her finally fall over. Steven was on the ground right in front of her. As she fell she let go of him so she wouldn’t pin him down. She looked back to see that Pearl’s spear had pierced her leg. The shaft was deep in her calve and the blade stuck through her shin.  
“Jasper!” Amethyst cried.  
“Don’t worry about me! Just take Steven and go! I’ll slow them down!” Jasper ordered.  
Amethyst summoned two whips and grabbed the both of them. She was able to yank Steven forward just fine but the large gem was hard to pull on her own. Peridot was about to help when a large hand made of water came from behind her. It grabbed Amethyst’s whip and yanked hard, sending Jasper flying towards them. Peridot grabbed Steven and dragged him to the warp pad and Amethyst helped the hand carry Jasper. Jasper looked on to see Lapis pulling her towards the warp pad, using the water from her wings to make the two hands. Peridot laid Steven down on the warp pad and Jasper joined him along with Amethyst.  
“Lapis! You--”  
“Shut up. I’m not just gonna leave you with those jerks.” Lapis demanded.  
She then looked up and noticed a green light in the sky. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was.  
“Oh crap.” She said to herself.  
Without thinking, Amethyst immediately thought of warping someplace far away from there. The beam of green energy hurtled at blistering speed toward them. The warp pad’s light engulfed them in one second and in the next the beam collided with the base and wiped it out in a massive explosion.  
Zoisite rushed over to the site as the smoke and dust cleared. To her dismay, there were only chunks of the pad left. She yelled out in frustration and kicked one of the chunks of rubble.  
“Damn it! Why’d this thing had to be hidden by all this...stupid plant junk!” She yelled as she smacked at a stalk of corn.  
She groaned in frustration and looked back at Pearl and Bismuth.  
“Great...Tourmaline is probably miles off by now. Feld’s gonna be so happy about that. Well alright let’s see...they’re all pretty injured save the pipsqueaks...and I’m probably not gonna have a better opportunity to get at them. Let’s see…” Zoisite muttered to herself.  
She pulled out a small pad and it displayed the planet Earth. She tapped it and it showed a hologram of the planet. She noticed the red dots for Pearl and Bismuth were right next to her, and the dot for Steven was some miles away from them. It didn’t look like they were at Beach City either. Probably anticipated a sneak attack at their home all things considered. She made her decision.  
“Alright, a diamond is worth more than some tourmaline.” She whistled and her ship descended towards them, “Come on ladies we got a score to settle.”  
The three of them jumped into the ship and took their seats. The cockpit closed and she tapped in the coordinates to go to Steven’s location. She also called Feldspar’s private communications line. Since they were a fair ways off from Beach City and Little Homeworld, maybe she could send a few Calcites her way to help her out. Zoisite enjoyed a tricky hunt, but she knew that business came first and she would use any available resource to satisfy her employer. As the ship got ready to fly through the sky at blistering speeds, Feldspar answered Zoisite’s call.  
“Hey boss. Bad news…” Zoisite started.  
Her ship blasted off and flew through the sky faster than a jet. But following close behind was Tourmaline. He may be able to shake off his pursuers and hide away from Feldspar on the planet, but he wasn’t going to abandon the gems that went out of their way to help him. They brought him so close to freedom and he wasn’t going to let them take his place. As he ran across the open field chasing down the assassin’s ship, pieces of his suit flaked off him from the intense pressure. Peridot’s surgery was a success. Only a few bits and pieces remained before Tourmaline was completely free and in top condition.


	4. Revival

Two weeks ago…

Thousands of miles from Homeworld and even further away from Earth, Feldspar’s facility floated freely through the void of space. Away from the eyes of the Diamonds, Feldspar could work to her heart’s content. She had been hiding from them for years. Ever since the coronation of a certain Steven Universe. Her research was once revered for her unique methods of engineering worthless shards and off-colors into valued war machines. But now what was once unnatural was to be revered in the same regard as any other gem. Galaxy wide equality meant that she was out of potential experiments. That she went from a respected asset to a pariah. Any hopes she had for the cluster and all the boons it would’ve brought, destroyed by him. Every little indignation from his self absorbed, immature mother that Feldspar had to suffer through...completely unanswered. She refused to accept any of it. She needed retribution. She needed validation that all the thousands of sleepless hours of uninterrupted work would amount to something. Her plan for Rose Quartz could work still. 

Feldspar still had to be careful. She was able to avoid the diamond authority for years now. They had dozens of planets of gems to deal with. She may have been valued, but she was one scientist in an armada of them. Others with far more relevant research. She could afford to slip away with what she had. It was enough. She just needed more time to secure her forces to enact her plan. Everything needed to be meticulously in place. It was her versus an entire galaxy if even a microcosm of her plan went wrong. And today she was ironing out the most fickle aspect of her forces: Tourmaline.

He had been an object of interest for her ever since she happened upon him. A lone fusion on a meteor that just happened to be drifting by her hiding space from a void. If it weren’t for Black Pearl’s suggestion she never would have decided to view it. Maybe she had thought of the idea of exploration to break up the monotony of their lives in the lab or was looking for an opportunity to escape. It wouldn’t have been the first attempt she made. Despite her reservations she took her and White Topaz out for their little stroll. Nothing eventful until the moment Black Pearl gasped. Hiding behind a rock was Tourmaline. He looked so timid but Feldspar could tell that he was something special. 

Three gems fused together, yet he was barely taller than your average pearl. Further experiments showed that his power was incredible. Analysis of his gems revealed unique structure unlike modern gem formation, implying he was not a second generation gem. But most importantly he was completely obedient. He had been sitting alone on that rock for an unimaginable amount of time. Even he couldn’t recall how long he had been on that rock, let alone his life before that rock. It could’ve been due to a rejuvenator or simply him forgetting. Either way it imparted to a key aspect of his character that Feldspar valued: malleability. His isolation rendered him a clean slate. Something she could form into whatever she desired. A tool that could become her ace in the hole for her plan. 

Years of training and experimental enhancements assured her hunch. Tourmaline had turned into a fine warrior, nearly eclipsing her original masterpiece. But as he grew in power, so did his arrogance and disloyalty. Instead of an obedient perfect soldier he grew more unpredictable. Feldspar reviewed log after log of his training sessions with the other gems. She assumed that the others poisoned him against her, but their conversations had nothing to do with revolution. Outside of the minor details of their lives before her ship, there was no talk of rebellion. Did the mere idea of life outside of her facility spark the idea of forming his own independence? Her methods were extreme at times but she allowed him pleasantries to mitigate his stress and prevent eventual resentment. It was the only reason she allowed prolonged interactions with the likes of White Topaz and Black Pearl, among other members of the ship. Then one day she got her answer in the most terrifying way.

Tourmaline was training with White Topaz and Jet while Stibnite mediated them. For some reason Tourmaline was particularly agitated that day, giving way to her theory of the stress of his training getting up to him. Then he started to get into an argument...with himself. She had noted this behavior in fusions before, the parts that make them up communicating with each other in particularly stressful situations. It was the first time it came up during training. The strangest thing though was that Tourmaline was speaking from four different perspectives. It was as if he himself was arguing with the three gems that made him up. Feldspar was fascinated and immediately ceased the experiment. He lashed out violently for no given reason and nearly shattered her as a result. If it wasn’t for White Topaz stepping in or Black Pearl demanding him to snap out of his state, she would’ve been dead. When he came to he was distraught and terrified. Both aspects that she could take advantage of.

She had experimented with the mind control devices and they worked well enough with her other gems. The suits were a different story, merely there to help compress shards into whole gems and help fusions become more permanently linked. This would be her first attempt to combine both technologies. The power he displayed when he went berserk was incredible. She’d hate to see what would happen if this experiment failed. 

All it took was a few lies and Tourmaline was willingly entering her private lab to let the suit attach to him. He was there, bound inside of it with various wires and tubes hooked up to a central computer with Feldspar and Stibnite standing at adjacent ends of the room. Feldspar stood at the center console to activate the computer while Stibnite was there to assist her in setting things up with Tourmaline. The time had come for her to enact her plan.

“Feldspar...thank you again for this. You’re sure this will stop me from going crazy like that again?” He asked.

“Of course. Everything will be better once you become one with the suit.” Feldspar assured him.

“I’ll still be me though...right?” He asked.

“Of course you will be. Black Pearl and the others won’t even be able to know anything has changed with you.” Feldspar said.

“Why aren’t they here now?” Tourmaline asked.

“Mandatory training and scheduled activities clashed with this. They will be meeting with you shortly after the process is complete.” Stibnite answered.

“Okay. Well...let’s do this.” He requested.

Feldspar looked to her control panel and activated the protocol for the suit. Engines hummed and light glowed intensely. The parts of the suit locked in place and began to activate. Tourmaline felt a little uncomfortable but it was forewarned that there would be mild discomfort. He would endure it for his sake and the sake of his friends. He wanted to be better. To avoid ever hurting them again. Then the needles came.

He began to scream out in pain as the suit began to activate. All his senses were simultaneously heightened and dulled, his form stiffened and became like ice melded to the innards of the suit, his mind torn asunder. Before he could comprehend what was wrong, he could feel all cognitive thoughts fade away. He couldn’t even think in a complete sentence. Then he stopped thinking all together. His forced symbiosis was complete. 

Feldspar gazed at his lifeless form and deduced that the process was successful. There was a mild twinge of regret in the back of her head for the pain he had to endure. He had been a relatively good boy up til recently, but she couldn’t afford to take any chances. She walked over to him and began to stare into his now artificial eyes. She could see the light beneath the lenses, showing that his form was still within. She let go of him and turned away to see Stibnite walking to the exit.

“I don’t recall dismissing you Stibnite.” Feldspar said.

Stibnite turned back to Feldspar and bowed her head submissively, “Apologies, I just assumed that I fulfilled the orders you--”

“I’m just teasing Stibnite. You were a lovely help. Go to the others and break the news to them. If they show signs of insubordination, I will deal with it. Just let them know that the suit will be a temporary solution until I discover the source of his tantrum if they’re agitated. I’ll deal with any additional blowback. Understood?” Feldspar explained.

“Clearly.” Stibnite turned around, pressed her hand to the door’s panel, and exited the chamber. 

Feldspar turned back to the control panel and began opening the secondary protocol. She looked back to Tourmaline and had a melancholy expression on her face. 

“It’s a shame. You were turning into one of my favorite test subjects. Even Pyrite had a shred of respect for you. Pity it all has to go back to zero.” Feldspar looked back to the control panel and was ready to initiate the mind wipe, “Good bye, little fusion.”

The brief sound of rattling metal was heard. Feldspar quickly jerked back to Tourmaline. He was still in his limp position. But it looked like his head was slightly ajar, though still limp. Feldspar slowly turned back to the panel with her eyes on him the whole time. As she was about to completely turn away, the sound came back. Feldspar quickly turned and saw Tourmaline’s head shake a bit. Feldspar was very confused.

“That’s...peculiar.” She said to herself, “Tourmaline...are you still with me?”

He began to let out a low hissing noise. He appeared to be protesting against further treatment. But the initial protocol was to suppress his personality and cognitive abilities. The second run would implant the ideal personality for Feldspar’s benefit. There should be no sign of any remote function outside of his form still being maintained. She took a step towards him. There was no response. She was hoping that it was only a minor effect from the first protocol. She didn’t want to take a chance. She turned back and pressed the activation prompt. And then Tourmaline screamed as loud as he possibly could. 

The suit corrupted his cries with static and feedback but he was yelling and thrashing about in his constraints now. Feldspar stepped back in terror. She knew he would be incapacitated but now he’s reacting as violently as he did during his rampage. She summoned a large serrated knife from her gem and held it out in front of her. She was prepared to defend herself if he broke free. Or if reinforcements did not arrive in time. She regretted letting Stibnite go. She pressed her back to the door and gazed as the machine was working it’s intentions on a struggling Tourmaline. She then felt small vibrations from the door, followed by the muffled sounds of shouting. 

The chamber was sound proofed in case of Tourmaline shouting, but now it was a detriment. She couldn’t tell if it was Stibnite concerned for her, or one of Tourmaline’s friends yelling at her. She couldn’t risk the latter. If they recklessly attempted to stop the process, the damage to Tourmaline could be catastrophic. All that Feldspar could do at this point was hope that the protocol would be complete in the following seconds. A hope that was completely dashed when Tourmaline ripped one arm free from his constraints. She stared in terror as he pulled himself out of the wall. Whatever force was driving him, she couldn’t say it was Tourmaline anymore.

Outside of the door, Black Pearl was pounding desperately at the door. She had stalked Feldspar and Stibnite to this chamber earlier. Ever since Tourmaline’s rampage she had kept a close eye on him. She was worried about what would happen to him, and it appeared it already was happening. She tried to get in earlier but the door was locked with an intricate password. Her only option was to wait for one of them to leave the chamber. She intercepted Stibnite and she let her know what had just happened. Stibnite was attempting to calm her down but she refused. She wouldn’t let Feldspar turn him into a lifeless puppet like the Calcites. 

“Feldspar open this door now! I’ll tear it apart if I have to!” She screamed.

“Black Pearl please, this is a fruitless effort. Calm yourself. This is for Tourmaline’s benefit.” Stibnite assured her.

Black Pearl ignored her and summoned her limbs. She was ready to pry the door open like an oyster. She was about to strike when the wall next to the door burst open. Shards of metal, wire and fiberglass went everywhere. A cloud of smoke and dust blew in her face, blinding her temporarily. She shook it off and looked back to the source of the wall. Hunched over, twitching and staring her down was her former friend. She looked at him, horrified.

“Tour...Tourmaline?” She uttered.

He curled into himself and then whipped his frame in an intense arch. He let out a blood curdling cry that hurt everyone’s ears. He charged forward and knocked the two gems aside. Black Pearl hit the door and Stibnite the wall behind her. Tourmaline ran as fast as he could away from the chamber. Black Pearl got to her feet. She was shocked by what she saw, and then more pissed off than she ever thought she could be. She only hoped that he shattered Feldspar. Because if he didn’t she was about to. She rushed through the hole in the wall to see Feldspar painfully getting to her feet. She was talking into a communicator. 

“Attention all staff. An asset has gone berserk. Capture it at all costs. Use any methods necessary--”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?!” Black Pearl screamed.

Feldspar looked at her. Her spider-like protrusions all pointed towards her, she was ready to kill. 

“I gave him what he wanted--”

“Liar! He didn’t want you to make him into a mindless slave! I’ll shatter you, you monster!”

“Now Black Pearl be reasonable! If I die, what’s going to happen to you? And your little sanctuary?”

Black Pearl grit her teeth. That was Feldspar’s trump card against her. The reason for her imprisonment was for the sake of her sanctuary. She thought about all the pearls that she helped escape Homeworld’s abuse. If they got their hands on her, they’d make her talk and they’d all be taken back. Feldspar knew this, and now she had no choice but to obey. She cared deeply for Tourmaline, but that sanctuary was everything to her. It made her sick, but she retracted her limbs. 

Feldspar began to run out of the room. Black Pearl chased after her. Stibnite left and went after Tourmaline on her own, so the two of them were alone. They could hear the chaos he was making from the end of the hall. 

“You’re emotionally distressed so I’ll excuse the threat to my life. You want to help Tourmaline? Capture him so I can finish the procedure.” Feldspar ordered.

Black Pearl just glared at Feldspar. She still wanted to kill her. Feldspar decided not to test her luck and brought her focus back to thinking about Tourmaline.

The hall was torn up with scratch marks, cracked walls, and calcite soldiers strewn about the floor. He was bowling through them but not taking his time to finish them off. Either he was just running about scared, or searching for something. As they entered a trashed chamber, Jet appeared from behind a table and looked at the two of them. 

“What’s going on here!? What was that!?” She shouted.

The two of them ignored her and rushed out. Feldspar came to a horrifying realization as they exited: they were approaching the escape pod bay. She sprinted as fast as her form allowed her to. If he made it there he could leave them. He would be captured by Homeworld. They would know what she has been doing. It couldn’t be allowed. She hushed that paranoid thought by thinking that Tourmaline couldn’t possibly comprehend how to operate an escape pod now. As they ran down, she looked ahead to see the scratch marks stopping...right in front of the escape pod bay’s door.

“No…” She said under her breath.

She rushed into the bay with Black Pearl following her to see a green pod dissolve through the floor. 

“NO!” She cried out as she leapt to it. She fell to the floor, failing to even touch the pod. 

Feldspar pushed off the floor and looked around the bay. She saw White Topaz on the floor on the opposite side of the room. He was in pain and clutching his left arm. She stomped to him and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.

“What did you do!?” Feldspar shouted.

“I tried to stop it...but it overpowered me! I’m sorry Feldspar!” He cried.

Feldspar grit her teeth. It wasn’t his fault. She was just looking for someone to take her aggression out on at this point. But that wouldn’t amount to anything. She had bigger problems now.

“Forget it. You did all you could.” Feldspar said as she let him go, “We need to track that pod down and capture the asset before it hurts any gems. Or itself. You all will assist with repairing the damage it caused. Then you’ll wait for your next assignment.” Feldspar then looked to Black Pearl, “I understand that there will be no issues until we reclaim our asset. Correct?”.

Black Pearl grit her teeth, but managed to growl out a yes. Feldspar turned away and then rushed off to her station. The pearl shot her glare to White Topaz and pushed him against the wall.

“What were you thinking? Why try to stop him!? That was--”

“Tourmaline, I know.” White Topaz answered calmly.

Black Pearl looked at him with a puzzled stare.

“You knew it was him? Then why...wait did you--”

“Yes. I saw him charging down the hall and pretty much instantly figured out it was him. Nothing can move like him. I could tell he was out of his head...and that it had to have been Feld’s fault. I lured him here, input the coordinates into an escape pod and forced him in.” White Topaz explained.

“Even faking an injury?” Black Pearl asked.

“The pain is real. He kicked me across the room when I was pushing him into the pod. I think he accidentally hit the right button because the pod activated. Not a moment too soon either.”

Black Pearl shook her head. She had to calm herself down. She couldn’t believe that Tourmaline was now some mindless violent machine. Or that White Topaz did all of this.

“Did you plan all of this?”

“What am I a sapphire? I had no idea any of this was going to happen. I just improvised and did what I thought was right.” 

“Like shooting him off into space?”

“Not space. I had a destination set for that pod. He’s going to Earth.”

“Earth? You mean to the crystal gems?”

“Hopefully. It’ll be awhile before he makes it there. Same for us. And I doubt I can improvise when we get there either. We need a plan. And help. Know it’s obvious, but you’re in right?”

Black Pearl smiled and nodded, “Let’s take this bitch down.”. 

/**/

Present day…

“What do you mean you lost them all!?!” Feldspar shrieked. 

“What I mean is they ran away from me. Tourmaline bolted the other way and the crystal gems warped away. I’m flying to their location now.” Zoisite answered.

Feldspar slammed her hands onto her desk as she glared at Zoisite’s calm expression. The nerve of this peon to fail her and think she will just get a free do over. If the next sentence out of her mouth wasn’t some form of good news she was going to go on a rampage. 

“They didn’t warp to Beach City and the area they’re at is fairly remote. Remote enough that you could send some back up for me without it being suspicious. Hint hint.” 

Attitude aside, this could be a better opportunity than the original. She let go of her anger and started to think rationally about the situation. 

“Are they injured?” Feldspar asked.

“The Lapis and Jasper? A little. Steven’s really messed up. The controller or, whatever the dumb thing is called--

“Wavelength manipulator.”

“Yeah that. It isn’t controlling him but it sure is hurting him. He couldn’t do anything during the fight.” 

“Mn. I need to make adjustments for him then.” Feldspar looked to a secondary monitor and tapped a few symbols, “I just sent orders out to ten ships to rendezvous at your location. Shatter the others and take Steven. Fail and you die. Understand?” Feldspar stated.

“My life is over if this mission is over, so I figured that was already established. Don’t you worry, miss puppet master, you’ll get every little pawn you need for your game plan. The goods might be damaged a little, but if you’re going to be fixing their mind how you want them to be, what's a few cracks to patch right?” Zoisite laughed, “Okay I’ll see you later.”

With that the transmission ended. Feldspar sighed to herself and decided to leave her chambers. She went into her elevator and pressed a button on the panel inside. The elevator then flew over to one of the cylinders in her ring ship. Feldspar figured it was best to prepare for a worst case scenario now instead of getting caught with her back to the wall. The elevator brought her to her old workshop. She entered the chambers to find her giant vanguard standing attentively at her post. 

“Pyrite. You’re officially on standby. The moment something goes wrong on the ship, you are permitted to move. And destroy any gem in your path. Understood?” Feldspar ordered.

The titanic, armor clad gem nodded. Feldspar turned her attention away from her and walked to the bench she talked with the crystal gems at. She looked across it at the blank metal sheet that covered the wall. She tapped an unmarked section near the lower right corner and pressed a hidden button. The sheet moved to the side and revealed a secret compartment containing several gems suspended by force fields and being shocked with delicate tools. Among those gems were Ruby and Sapphire. She ignored those two for now. She had previously put them in there for reconditioning. Additional peripherals would not be necessary for her to be under Feldspar’s control, which would be a benefit if she needed to engage in combat. What she was really looking at was a black orb riddled with red and purple cracks. A gem named “Obsidian 00-2”.

This gem was a special project that Feldspar had been working on relatively recently. Ever since the crystal gems went to Homeworld and had their confrontation with White Diamond, Feldspar was fascinated by the giant fusion that attacked the diamond’s ship. It’s awesome power and fierce disposition, all because of a combination of five gems. She hypothesized that Steven’s human side may have had some influence on the design, but seeing the ancient statue in Beach City confirmed that wasn’t the case. And it reassured her that her combination, although not ideal, would replicate a gem that may not be equal in stature or power, but would still be a force to be reckoned with. 

Gathering materials was the easy part. Feldspar simply took ruby, sapphire, amethyst, pearl, and rose quartz shards and melded them together. She understood that Steven’s gem was a diamond and not a quartz, but she chose that substitution as it was the closest option she had. There was no way she’d find diamond shards lying around. The goal wasn’t to make an exact clone, but a decent replica of the gem. She hypothesized that she would be larger than a quartz soldier, possibly larger than Jasper, but nowhere near the range of the original Obsidian. She had full gems while this gem was made up of mere shards. Some shards could’ve been from differing gems. She had four shards of amethyst and they all could’ve been from different soldiers. It didn’t matter once the melding process began. Instead of the crude forced fusions that soldered gems together half-heartedly, Feldspar carefully carved and pieced the gems together to create a perfectly spherical orb. Using an oil recipe of her own chemical formulation she filled any and all gaps that may have been left from joining the shards together, ensuring total internal stability. She further sealed the shards together via heat treatment, and then began the lengthy process of pressure tempering. Results were becoming apparent when the messy appearance of the shards melded together, all turning a collective black save the purple and red cracks. She had been in this stasis for weeks, receiving a constant treatment of artificial gravity and wavelength manipulation. 

She has seen that the gem’s potential spectrum was similar to Obsidians. A great sign that her experiment was successful. However Feldspar still kept her in stasis rather than risk letting her form. There were too many confounding factors. Her size hypothesis could be false and she would actually come out gargantuan, too large to be contained in the facility. The experiment could also be a failure and she comes out a corrupted mess of limbs. The greatest confounding factor however was the most unpredictable: her personality. Obsi 00-2 is an amalgamation of multiple shards. She had no idea how that would affect her psychology. The original Obsidian didn’t do much outside of roar. Her being taciturn would be the ideal. But it was too risky. She wasn’t even certain if a suit would work in containing her. 

“I can’t believe I’m even considering Obsi-002 out of her cage. But if Zoisite fails...no...no it’s too risky. For all I know she isn’t even properly conditioned. The suit could fix that but...I need to weigh my options.”

She looked over her shoulder to notice Stibnite enter the room. 

“Oh, so you’re here. I attempted to use the communicator but you were busy.” Stibnite explained.

“What is it, Stibnite?” Feldspar asked.

“Several gems are missing. Including White Topaz and Black Pearl. I fear they may have escaped the ship. I’ve already ordered the Calcites to go search for them. I just wanted to let you know about the current situation.” Stibnite explained.

Feldspar’s face was as stiff as a stone. She looked back to Obsi 00-2’s stone and shrugged her shoulders, “Good riddance to all precautions I guess.”

“Thank you Stibnite. Keep me updated on the situation. I have work to do.” Feldspar said.

“As you request, miss.” 

/**/

It was the dead of night in the abandoned kindergarten. Clouds blocked out the stars and the only light was the moon peering through a break in the clouds like an eye staring down at the Earth. A beam of light shot up from the ground towards the moon as the crystal gems warped to the forsaken place. Lapis carried the rest of the gems down off the plateau the warp pad was. Jasper was still holding onto Steven. The device was still inside him and still trying to control him. Peridot looked at the device and used her metal kinesis on it but all it did was tug at his skin. Jasper growled and shoved Peridot to get her to stop.

“I was trying to help!” She shouted.

“Well it’s obviously not working!” Jasper yelled back.

Amethyst put her hand on Steven’s shoulder. She was worried about him. Peridot took a closer look at the device and frowned.

“It must be deep in there. Probably designed so even a quartz couldn’t pull it out. So if it’s not brute force…” Peridot used her powers to pull off the shell of the device, “...a more delicate touch is required.”

“What are you doing?” Jasper asked.

“Just pulling some circuits apart at a miniscule level. It’ll shut off and hopefully be a lot easier to pull out. At least it’ll stop the shock.” Peridot explained.

“Thanks...Peridot.” Steven strained to say.

“My diamond, please don’t talk.” Jasper said.

Lapis turned to summon the rest of the water she brought with her. It was only enough to form a pair of arms about the size of two cars. She scoffed and looked at Jasper over her shoulder.

“Of all the places we could’ve gone, you picked a place with no water?” Lapis complained.

“I had to think fast otherwise we all would have died!” Jasper shouted.

“Alright I’ma just step in before this gets worse, so both of you shut up!” Amethyst yelled, “We got worse things going on right now!”

The two clammed up and looked away from one another. Peridot continued to pull the device apart. Steven’s breathing became more calm as the red cracks under his skin began to recede. Peridot kept working at it while Amethyst looked around. She was confused and stressed out. Pearl and Garnet were the ones who came up with the plans, and now she was stuck in an unruly group where her two heavy hitters hate each other's guts. She needed to get this situation under control or they'll be wiped out in an instant. 

“Alright, you hate her and she hates you.” Amethyst said to Jasper, “But we’re stuck together and the Earth is probably in big trouble. So put aside that attitude and help us out!” Amethyst said.

The purple gem also turned to Lapis, “And as for you! I get that you got beef with her. We all do! But you can’t be picking at her and antagonizing her when we’re at the end of our rope! Chill with it, and then we can all leave each other alone and go back to our own lives!”

Peridot snapped away from her work and glared at Amethyst.

“Amethyst! You can’t talk to Lapis like that when-”

“No. She’s right. Fine. I’ll keep things civil, until we get this Feldspar creep off our planet and you…” Lapis pointed at Jasper, “...can go back to being out of my life. Got it?”

Jasper scowled, “Perfect.”

Peridot managed to pull apart the rest of the device and it powered down. Steven had nothing glowing under his skin and his breath began to stabilize. She used her telekinesis and managed to pull the device out of Steven, a trickle of blood exiting with it. Peridot couldn’t help but shudder at the sight.

“Man I can never get used to all that...fluid in you organics. No offense Steven!” She said.

Steven licked his thumb and stuck it on the open wound. A pink light shined underneath his pressed thumb. He removed it and the wound was gone, “None taken Peridot.” 

Steven attempted to stand but stumbled a little. Jasper was by his side to make sure he didn’t fall.

“My diamond you shouldn’t push yourself.” She said.

“I’m fine. I gotta get used to moving my legs again.” Steven said.

Steven’s lighthearted comment was interrupted by a ray of light being shone on him. The gems looked up to see a lone spherical ship. Then another beam of light shone on them. Then several more all peering down at them. From the ships, multiple calcite soldiers leaped out and landed around the gems. They all glared at the crystal gems as they created a circle around Steven. Lapis formed her water into two giant fists, Peridot picked up some shards of metal from a destroyed injector, Amethyst summoned her whip, and Jasper summoned her helmet. Steven managed to summon his shield, but he couldn’t turn pink and activate his other powers. He was still getting over a tremendous amount of stress. At the very least he could defend himself so the others wouldn’t have to focus entirely on defending him. They were ready for the calcites to make their moves, but then a familiar ship appeared in the sky. It hovered in the air next to a couple sphere ships and out came Zoisite. She leaped down next to a couple of her soldiers and smiled venomously at her prey. 

“Hi again. I brought some friends to play with us this time. Hope you don’t mind.” She said.

“What, you couldn’t do it yourself? Wuss!” Amethyst said.

“Oh wow what a potty mouth. But to be honest, your words are probably the only thing that’ll hurt me.” Zoisite noticed Steven had his shield out and was staring her down, “Great you managed to get that junk out of you. I knew I shouldn’t have made that phone call.”

“I don’t want to fight! Just give me back my friends and get out of here! This isn’t going to end well for you if the diamonds find out.” Steven said.

“Yeah that’s a very big “if” Stevie boy. And if we get you where we need you, that if won’t come to pass. So just to be safe…”

Zoisite snapped her fingers and Pearl & Bismuth leapt out of the ship and landed next to her. Their weapons at the ready, they were ready to take out anyone in their way. 

“Okay...anyone got a plan?” Peridot asked.

“You all take care of the trash. Zoisite is mine.” Jasper demanded.

“Hey! Some of that trash are my friends!” Amethyst argued.

“Yeah Jasper I don’t think we have the numbers or power advantage here. If you didn’t do the math, it’s five quartzes a piece here. And that’s not counting Bismuth, Pearl and Zoisite. We’re in deep trouble.” Lapis stated.

“Talk like that is what’s going to make us lose. We may be outnumbered but they’re clearly outmatched.” Jasper said.

“And what if the ships have guns too?” Amethyst said.

Jasper paused for a second, “That’s going to be an issue.”

“Hey! You starting a party without us!?” A familiar voice echoed from above. 

All the gems looked up to see White Topaz, Black Pearl, and Jet looking down at them. They leaped down and landed near Zoisite. White Topaz slowly swaggered over to her while the other gems followed close behind. Jet’s chest gem glowed and summoned her sword. Black Pearl formed her limbs, and six spider-like legs stretched out from her abdomen. White Topaz walked up to Zoisite and they exchanged stares.

“Hey! Didn’t realize Feldspar sent you guys too. Thought she was being stingy and giving me grunts.” Zoisite stated.

“Course not! You think I’d miss the opportunity to get my hands dirty?” White Topaz said.

Lapis glared at White Topaz, “I knew that slimy piece of--”

“Shhh shut up girl he’s doing a thing!” Amethyst whispered.

Lapis looked at Amethyst with confusion but Peridot looked up to her too and gave her an assuring nod. Lapis looked back to the new gems and remained steadfast. 

Zoisite summoned a handful of needles and snatched them out of the air. She began to step forward and grinned maliciously.

“You want to pick one out for yourself?” She asked.

“Oh I got my hit in mind.” White Topaz said as he summoned his sai.

“So long as it’s not the big girl. She’s mine. So who’s your--” Zoisite looked back and her smile jerked into a startled look as she saw White Topaz’s sai approaching her eye.

Zoisite jerked her head to the side as the tip of the weapon scraped across her cheek. Taking the signal, Black Pearl thrust all three of her left limbs into the nearest calcite soldier, impaling her head, chest and stomach. Jet cleanly cut through the other calcite’s torso, the blade’s acid melting the rest of her before she exploded into a cloud of smoke. Black Pearl’s calcite did the same and Zoisite glared in disbelief at White Topaz.

“What the hell are you doing you idiot!?!” Zoisite shouted.

“I’m attacking my hit you one eyed shit show.” White Topaz said.

Black Pearl and Jet rushed over to the crystal gems as the calcites charged at them. Jet got next to Steven and Black Pearl was next to Amethyst.

“Did you make good on your word?” Black Pearl asked Peridot.

“Kind of. He was able to talk and move fine but he ran off before I was able to get all of it off of him. That lovely lady over there’s the reason why.” Peridot explained.

Black Pearl reached behind and grabbed a long thread that spun from her gemstone, “So long as they don’t know and he’s safe, it’ll be fine.”

“Let’s just kick their asses and worry about that later.” Amethyst declared.

The calcites all rushed towards the gems. Bismuth attempted to leap into the group and scatter them but Jasper charged into the air and blocked her assault, then spiked her back down to the ground. The giant gem landed with a rock shattering slam and Jasper immediately followed it up with a tackle. Pearl led the charge instead but her spear was grabbed by Black Pearl’s threads. The spider gem yanked back and brought Pearl over to face her head on. 

“I told you to be careful.” Black Pearl said. 

Pearl twirled her spear around and yanked away the wires. She stabbed at her opponent but Black Pearl dodged and parried the counters with her spider legs. Black Pearl attempted to swipe Pearl away but she gracefully ducked and leapt around the strikes. She landed with the grace of a ballerina and kicked at Black Pearl’s torso. The kick hit her ribs, but she anticipated the attack and used her limbs to plant herself in the ground so she wouldn’t be knocked away. Pearl attempted to move her leg back but it was stuck. She looked down to see that Black Pearl wrapped a few spindles of wire around her ankle. Pearl attempted to swing her spear at Black Pearl’s head but she quickly pulled on the spindles and severed Pearl’s foot. Her balance lost, the swipe missed. Pearl rolled backwards and stood on one foot with her spear held in a far more defensive manner. She may be brainwashed but her warrior instincts were very much intact. Black Pearl pulled out more wires and held her limbs out in a threatening manner pointed towards Pearl. She may have the advantage at the moment, but she refused to underestimate her opponent. 

Jasper got launched out of her self made crater and onto the ground. She felt the indent in her stomach and smiled. Bismuth managed to give her a good punch in the gut, and it felt great to fight someone in her weight class again. The angry dreadlocked gem stomped out of the crater and turned her fists into large crescent shaped blades.

“I was hoping to crush the one eyed freak...but you’ll be a good warm up.” Jasper said.

Bismuth stretched her arm and swung the blade towards Jasper. Jasper stepped forward and grabbed Bismuth’s arm at the wrist. Bismuth swung her other arm back and slammed it towards Jasper’s head, but Jasper blocked it with a well placed uppercut. The quartz warrior yanked Bismuth towards her, pulling her off the ground as she did so. She leaned back with one foot off the ground and as Bismuth got close, she violently threw her head forward, stomping forward as she did so. The headbutt sent Bismuth flying backwards. Before Jasper could follow up the attack she felt something grab her back. Bismuth managed to use her other arm’s blade to hook itself around Jasper as she leaned forward. Jasper flew with Bismuth, but the giant blue gem managed to ground herself before Jasper could. She thrust her arm towards Jasper and hit her with a mighty lariat. The impact was great and Jasper landed with a loud crack as the rock underneath her shattered when her upper back collided with it. Bismuth was about to stomp on Jasper’s face but she quickly curled into a ball and rolled away. Bismuth was about to dodge but Jasper was too quick and rolled into Bismuth, carrying her into the base of one of the canyon walls. 

Meanwhile, Lapis took two calcites she grabbed with her water hands and slammed them together. The two poofed, and a couple others poofed thanks to some well thrown shrapnel from Peridot. Amethyst knocked one off its feet and tossed it into the canyon wall. Another was about to pound her but Steven blocked it with his shield and then punched it away. 

“Hate that I gotta do this.” Steven said.

“Yeah but you’re doing it to save em later. It’s just like when we were helping corrupted gems!” Amethyst said.

Steven smirked, “Yeah...good point.” 

There were several small explosions going off nearby. Zoisite threw another handful of needles towards White Topaz but he parried them and moved in quickly to avoid their blast radius. He stabbed towards her with his sai but she blocked the strike. She attempted to retaliate but he also blocked, the two exchanging strikes and kicks at one another but neither giving any ground.

“You stupid clod bastard don’t you understand what you’re doing!? You’re throwing away the best chance you got at your perfect life!” Zoisite shouted.

“Yeah my perfect life is a life with my friends and far away from that psychopath. You two can stay together since you’re both cracked in the head but we’re stopping you before you cause some actual damage.” White Topaz said.

Zoisite noticed that her troops were getting torn apart by the crystal gems and the traitors. Aside from Bismuth and Pearl, the gems were clearly outmatched. She never liked a fair fight, so after pushing White Topaz away, she signaled to the gems in the ships to open fire on the gems. The spherical ships all started to have two glowing lights appear on them as they charged up their weaponry. 

Jet just cleaved another Calcite in two when she noticed the lasers aiming at the crystal gems. She quickly dashed to the group. Steven was busy with a calcite trying to rip his shield out of his hands. Jet leapt onto Steven’s shoulders and then thrust her blade directly into his opponent’s head, poofing them instantly. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled a massive amount of smoke and fog. Rolling her head around in a circle she created a cloud above the gems, obscuring the ship’s aim. Before Steven could say anything, Jet leapt off of his shoulders and towards another calcite. She swung her blade at it and a mass of gray acid splashed its arm. The arm melted almost instantly and Jet finished the calcite via decapitation. Steven stared at her in astonishment.

“Uh...who’s that?” Steven asked.

Amethyst just threw another calcite into the wall, firmly planting them in their before turning to Steven, “Oh that’s Jet. Friend of White Topaz and the others.”

“She seems...intense.” He said.

“Yeah. She’s good at hiding it though.” Amethyst said.

“She seems nice.” Peridot commented.

The ships were looking around the smokescreen to get their target, when one suddenly started twitching unnaturally. After a few seconds it stopped and then took aim at the other ships. It fired at them and blew them up one at a time. Up at the top of the canyon, Cerussite was using her hands to manipulate the ship through a series of holographic displays. 

“Tch, child’s play. If these are the types of defenses Feldspar has implemented, the rest of this should be a breeze.” She said.

Another ship flew up to her and was about to open fire when someone threw a small yellow ball at it. The ball collided with the hull and then detonated into a massive explosion. Cerussite looked over to see Pyromorphite bouncing another one of the balls on her gem leg. 

“Thank you baby!” Cerussite said.

“No problem love! Just keep blasting the ones that don’t know nothing and we’ll be golden.” Pyromorphite stated.

Zoisite noticed the explosions going off and quickly signaled her ship to escape before it got shot down too. The explosions swept the smokescreen away as she saw her troops ships going up in flames. Every advantage she had was taken away from her. Except for one underhanded one. 

“Okay...plan B.” Zoisite whistled and Pearl and Bismuth abandoned their fights and leapt to Zoisite’s side. Zoisite then held two needles to Pearl and Bismuth’s gemstones. 

The gems glared at her, their friends now willing hostages.

“Okay Steven, come with me or your friends die.” Zoisite demanded.

“You hurt them and I swear I’ll--” Amethyst shouted.

“Ah ah ah! I know about Steven’s time powers. Any sign of pink on him and I’ll skewer the two of them before any of you can blink.” Zoisite threatened, “So be a good boy and come here.” 

Pyromorphite and Cerussite glared down at the situation.

“Damn it all...you think I can just toss a bomb?” Pyromorphite asked.

“She would see it coming. And you might just hurt either of them by accident. That clod’s got us.” Cerussite stated.

Pyromorphite grit her teeth and looked away. She noticed something sliding down the canyon wall at the opposite side of the kindergarten. She tried to discern what it was, but it was too far away to make out. She nudged her girlfriend and she looked at her pointing at a small dust cloud. 

“Hey. You see that? What the heck is that?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” Cerussite answered.

Down at the bottom of the kindergarten Steven was slowly walking towards Zoisite, despite his friends pleas not to. White Topaz had a sai at the ready to potentially strike Zoisite and stop her. Amethyst was on the same wavelength as she had her whip ready to pull whatever she could grab. But her concentration broke when she noticed the same cloud that Pyromorphite did. 

“Hey. What’s that behind you?” Amethyst asked.

Zoisite tilted her head and frowned, “Of all the options you got, you pick the oldest trick in the book...really?”

A loud boom roared out from behind Zoisite. In the time it took her to turn around, the figure reached her and punched her as hard as it could. The green gem went flying past Steven and she bounded off of Jasper’s shoulder. The quartz spun and fell to the ground and Zoisite flew into the air. Pearl and Bismuth leapt up to help her. Amethyst cracked her whip to grab one of them and Black Pearl did the same to assist her. Pearl noticed them both and sliced the whip and wires away. Jasper looked back to Steven who was staring at the figure who attacked Zoisite. Before he could get a good look the figure leapt away. He followed it as it went to the side of the canyon, its landing crushing rock and cratering it. It leaped towards Zoisite and the other three gems when Zoisite pulled out a device. She clicked a button but was instantly cut in two. She poofed away but the device produced a bubble and caught her gemstone. It flew over to Pearl and Bismuth and pulled their gems out of their forms, causing them to poof as well. The device then vanished in a blip of light, teleporting away to an unknown location. The figure crashed into the opposite canyon wall and a small avalanche of boulders fell down. 

The rocks hit the ground, presumably burying the gems back up with it. Pyromorphite and Cerussite hopped down to meet up with the others and they all stared at the pile of rocks. It began to rumble and a hand of green light shot out from the pile. The light then formed into a green hand, its wrist forming a sleeve. Steven and his friends were confused, but White Topaz and his comrades recognized the hand instantly. Black Pearl and White Topaz rushed to the pile to help remove the rocks but as they approached they heard a low growl. Green light shot out of the cracks in the pile of rocks. In the next instant the rocks went flying in all directions away from a sudden wave of green energy. Roaring out as loud as he could, the gem unleashed whatever energy he stored up inside of him to not only blow the rocks off of him, but shred what little was left of the suit designed to bind him. Free of the suit at last, his true form appeared before his onlookers. 

His hair was a thick black mane that reached his shoulders. His face was masculine, appearing like a man in his late 20s. He was muscular but not bulky, a body like a professional track runner or a middleweight boxer. The gems on his shins glew a bright green and the one on his back shone blue. He wore a blank black shirt, a green jacket with two blue stripes running up each of his sleeves, tattered, dark blue pants that cut off at his gems, and black kung fu shoes. His green skin had black scars at the base of his collar, and presumably more underneath his shirt and jacket. 

All the gems stared in disbelief at his complete form. The gem responsible for all this madness, the object that Feldspar chased after, the once-thought android that nearly shattered Amethyst, Tourmaline was free and once again whole. Amidst their disbelief, White Topaz and Black Pearl couldn’t help but smile seeing their friend back to normal. His yell faded and he fell to the ground. White Topaz rushed over and quickly grabbed him, Black Pearl not far behind. He laid him down gently and Black Pearl looked down at his calm expression. His eyes were shut, as if he passed out. 

“Huh...knew he sounded hot but like...wow.” Amethyst said.

Peridot narrowed her gaze at Amethyst, “Really? That’s all you have to say?”

“Hey Peri...just trying to keep things light. Considering now that we got him back, Feldspar is probably gonna be even more pissed at us.” Amethyst said.

Steven nodded in agreement, “Amethyst is right. Feldspar is willing to declare war on the entire galaxy and she wants me and him to do it. She’s got our friends and she’s willing to use them however she can to make it happen. We need to come up with a plan and end this now before she does something even crazier.”

Cerussite walked up to Steven, Pyromorphite not close behind. Steven turned to the couple.

“Not to eavesdrop but...we kind of had our own plan to take care of Feldspar and all the junk she’s done to you guys. It’s a little bare bones though, so we’re open to suggestions.” Cerussite stated.

“Tell us everything!” Steven requested.

“Sure thing. One thing I can say for sure though...now that we got Tourmaline back, things are tipping back in our favor.” Cerussite declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to any fans that have been waiting for this update. I've been dealing with a lot of issues in my life, including the death of my mother. It's been really hard for me to focus but I want to let you all know that I will be going back to writing. It may not be regularly, but there will not be as big a gap as there was between this chapter and the last one. Thanks for following me.


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